When is surgery indicated for distance exotropia?
Sarah R. Richardson Abstract: A retrospective study of 187 patients with distance exotropia was undertaken to compare the outcomes of surgical and non-surgical management. Patients were divided into early, late and non-surgical groups. Analysis was performed to establish comparability between the groups and to determine any trend in management choices. One hundred and fifteen patients (61%) were managed non-surgically and 72 (39%) were managed surgically; 41 (57%) underwent early surgery and 31 (43%) late surgery. The groups were comparable in terms of binocularity but the near angle of deviation was significantly smaller in the non-surgical group than in either of the surgical groups. Consultant preference also appeared to be a significant factor in the choice of management. Better outcomes were found in the late surgery group: 18 patients (58%) achieved binocular single vision at near and distance post-operatively compared with 15 patients (36%) in the early surgery group. Key words:
