Outcomes of Bilateral Lateral Rectus Resection in Residual Esotropia following Bilateral Medial Rectus Recession

To evaluate the success rate, dose-response ratio, and predictive factors of success in patients with residual esotropia (≥25 prism diopter [pd]) following bilateral medial rectus (BMR) recession who underwent bilateral lateral rectus (BLR) resection.

In a retrospective study, medical records were reviewed for 47 patients with equal or more than 25 pd residual esotropia following 6 mm BMR recession. Sex, age at second surgery, the interval between first and second surgery in months, visual acuity, refraction, presence of amblyopia, presence of dissociated vertical deviation or inferior oblique overaction/superior oblique overaction, preoperative and postoperative angle of deviation, amount of BLR resection, and months of follow‑up were evaluated. Surgical success was defined as postoperative deviation within 8 pd of orthophoria.

The mean age of patients at reoperation was 48.59 ± 21.46 months. The mean near and far residual esotropia before BLR resection was 34.57 ± 11.02 and 33.83 ± 10.99 pd, respectively, reduced to 8.12 ± 1.43 pd in near and 6.32 ± 2.1 pd in far postoperatively. The mean BLR resection dosage was 5.53 ± 1.22 mm and each millimeter of BLR resection (1 mm for each eye) corrected an average of 7.95 pd of deviation in near and 7.40 pd in far. The success rate was 74.5%. After analysis using multivariate logistic regression, there were no factors associated with success.

Bilateral rectus resection in patients with a previous BMR recession has acceptable outcomes. The recommended surgical table can be used as a guide by strabismus surgeons in patients with residual esotropia.