Type of Surgery
Information

Last updated: 02/17/2009
Cosmetic improvement is likely with success rate estimates varying from about 65–85%. According to the latest statistics from 1998, binocular vision is improved in young children about 35% of the time, following eye muscle surgery. Between 15 and...
35% of patients have either no improvement or a worsening of their condition. A second operation may rectify less than perfect outcomes.
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Other Information
Definition
Eye muscle surgery is surgery to weaken, strengthen, or reposition any of the muscles that move the eyeball (the extraocular muscles).
Purpose
The purpose of eye muscle surgery is generally to align the pair of eyes so that they gaze in the same direction and move together as a team, either to improve appearance or to aid in the development of binocular vision in a young child. To achieve binocular vision, the goal is to align the eyes so that the location of the image on the retina of one eye corresponds to the location of the image on the retina of the other eye.
In addition, sometimes eye muscle surgery can help people with other eye disorders (nystagmus and Duane syndrome, for example).
Other Information
Approximately 56% of all patients achieve results of 20/20 or better and over 90% achieve 20/40 or better (which is good enough to drive without corrective lenses in most regions).1 Those with moderate to high myopia (greater than 7 diopters) have a lesser chance of achieving that result. As technique and technology improve, the results continue to improve.
From: Eye Surgery Education Council
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