Purpose: To determine the presurgery factors affecting early and long-term favorable outcomes of bilateral lateral rectus recession surgery for infantile exotropia.
Patients and methods: A retrospective study of 50 patients with infantile exotropia (both constant-type and intermittent-type exotropia with onset before 1 year of age) who had bilateral lateral rectus recession surgery correction with more than 1 year follow up. Presurgery data were obtained and evaluated by use of multiple regression analysis.
Results: Smaller presurgery distance deviation (p = 0.042), older age at surgery (p = 0.025), longer interval between onset and surgery (p = 0.020), and more myopic refractive error (p = 0.007) were associated with successful outcome at 6 weeks, but none was correlated with successful outcome at 1 year. Among all data, presurgery distance deviation was the only significant determinant (multiple regression analysis, p = 0.021) for successful outcome at 6 weeks. Presurgery distance deviation (β = 0.952, p < 0.001) was correlated with the distant angle of deviation 6 weeks (β = 0.952, p < 0.001) and 1 year (β = 0.394, p = 0.006) postsurgery.
Conclusions: Smaller presurgery deviation was found to be associated with more favorable surgical outcome.