Pur­po­se:

To determine the factors that influence the surgical success in patients with infantile esotropia and to evaluate the relationship between amount of bilateral medial rectus recession and convergence.

Ma­te­ri­al and Met­hod:

We retrospectively investigated the records of 188 patients with infantile esotropia who were operated on. The surgical success rate, the factors that influence the surgical success, and the relationship between amount of bilateral medial rectus recession and convergence deficiency were evaluated. Successful outcome was defined as deviation amount lower than 10 prism diopters postoperatively.

Re­sults:

The mean age of the 188 patients included in the study at presentation was 54.9±56.8 (5-276) months, and the mean surgical age was 60.7±54.8 (7-276) months. Success was provided in 70.7% of patients after the first surgery and in 86.7% of patients after repeated surgeries. It was seen that gender, surgical age, refractive error, surgical procedure and the presence of fusion before surgery did not affect surgical success. Residual esotropia was found more frequently in patients with large-angle preoperative deviation, whilst both residual esotropia and consecutive exotropia were found more frequently in patients with amblyopia. It was observed that augmented bilateral medial rectus recession did not cause an increase in postoperative convergence deficiency.

Dis­cus­si­on:

Since the presence of amblyopia affects the surgical success negatively, it must be identified and treated preoperative. Residual esotropia is more frequently seen in patients with large-angle deviation preoperative, and more than one surgery may be required to provide orthophoria. In these cases, augmented bilateral medial rectus recession is a safe and effective method that rescues the patient from repeated surgeries and may be preferred to three-or four-muscle surgeries.

Keywords: Infantile esotropia, surgery, amblyopia, convergence insufficiency