STRABO care less traumatic strabismus surgery technique in the rehabilitation of patients with strabismus

Purpose. Comparative evaluation of patients' rehabilitation using less traumatic STRABO care technique and traditional methods of strabismus surgery. Material and methods. Sixty-two patients with esotropia were included in the study. All participants underwent medial rectus muscle recession and lateral rectus muscle plication. Patients were divided into two groups. In the main group (38 patients), the surgery was performed with less traumatic technique. Radio-wave knife was used for dissecting the connective tissues. Vicryl 7-0 was used as suture material. Traditional surgical technique was used in control group (24 patients). Scissors were used as a cutting tool and Vicryl 6-0 as a suture material. In the postoperative period conjunctival hyperemia, and width of the palpebral fissure were assessed after the surgery. Conjunctival flap edema (thickness) was measured one day after surgery by the anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Results. The 1st day after surgery the median thickness of the conjunctival flap above the recession site according to AS-OCT was on average 1.5 times thinner in the main group than in the control group: 405 (351–555) µm vs. 618 (513–732) µm; p<0.001. During the entire observation period in the eyes operated with less traumatic technique, hyperemia was less expressed and palpebral fissure was wider as compared to the control group, where the standard surgical technique was used. Conclusion. Less traumatic STRABO care surgical technique allows to reduce the inflammatory response of tissues in response to surgical intervention and to facilitate the course of the early postoperative period. Key words: strabismus surgery, low-traumatic technique, radio-wave knife, oculomotor muscles, rehabilitation, STRABO care, anterior segment optical coherence tomography