Strabismus surgery is commonly performed at a surgical facility or a hospital outpatient unit. The eye is not removed during the surgical procedure. Instead, an incision is made on the clear membrane covering the white part of the eye followed by surgery on the surface of the eye to eliminate the strabismus. Modern surgical methods incorporate hidden incisions that leave no visible scarring on the eye’s surface.
Surgery carried out on children should be done as early as possible in their lives to afford them a greater chance of achieving binocular vision or depth perception.
It is possible that patients may in future years require further surgery to perfect their eye alignment.
Adults undergoing eye muscle surgery usually can achieve perfect results, but on occasion this may not be possible due to the cause of the strabismus, such as neurological weakness, scarring from old surgery or inflammation from eye muscle diseases.
Adjustable suture surgery is performed under a general anesthetic and temporary suture knots are made. Several hours after coming out of the anesthetic, eye alignment is checked and the sutures tied if the alignment is found to be in order. An adjustment in muscle tension can be made if the eyes are not properly aligned.
