Strabismus: Causes and treatment details

What causes strabismus?

We can not speak of a single etiology for strabismus. The loss of ocular parallelism and binocular vision can be classified into different types and their motive, too. Since congenital and hereditary cause, which determines a lack of eye coordination, to malformation of a specific or certain muscles, or nuclei of the central nervous system to trauma or a small stroke in an adult, or as frequent strabismus converged in the farsighted child.

All this can determine the appearance of a squint of different types and levels, with different treatment.

How does it affect vision?

Before commenting on the visual effects, note that there is another contribution to the psycho-emotional development of the child or the relationship with the environment in the adult.

A squint, contrary to what is commonly thought, produces only a cosmetic alteration. In addition to the visual disorder, the fact of losing the normal appearance with parallel eyes, alter the fluidity in relationships that produces a psychological disorder, and you can get to undermine self-esteem so important, therefore, that should be considered as reconstructive surgery, that without going into the visual benefits involved.

As for the visual impact it is essential to distinguish if it occurs in a developing child or an adult.

If the child has not yet developed visual learning, producing at high risk of amblyopia, the dreaded eye vague, and also the inability to develop binocular vision that gives us a sense of relief.

In a child with a certain age or an adult the first result is double vision and image overlay, extremely disturbing situation, although the child may disappear in a few hours, the adult may persist for life if not about.

Does adults solution? What is the treatment of children and adults?

A very complex issue, every branch of specialization in ophthalmology. It depends on many factors, visual acuity in both eyes, whether or not binocular vision or diplopia, which is the dominant eye; graduation, essential in children and adults very important.

These can improve the situation in a high percentage of cases, giving greater visual quality or curing diplopia and / or recovering the visual parallelism.

Treatment almost always goes through the exact graduation of both eyes, occlusion to improve the vision of each eye in children and often surgery extraocular muscles.

In children, we must first ensure the vision of the eyes, preventing or curing amblyopia with glasses and occlusions. In addition, restore the parallelism of the eyes may require surgery, although today it is sometimes treated with botulinum toxin injections, with varying results. If it is a simple, accommodative or not, there are vertical or horizontal strabismus changes, the extent and form of presentation among other factors will give us the treatment regimen.

 What are the risks of surgery extraocular muscles?

Since in extraocular muscle surgery is not acting on the eyeball, but on the sheaths that cover and the muscles themselves, the risk for vision is virtually nil.

The risks are common to any surgery, infection, bleeding or unwanted result from surgery. Still, the percentage of good results far outweighs the risks associated with surgery.

the risk of postoperative double vision always arises in adults, but it is rare that this happens, and even more to stay in time.

What is surgical treatment?

Surgical action may include your muscles shortening (resection), the reverse (weakening) and modifying the action by changing the position of the insertion of the muscles on the surface of the eyeball.

It can be done if a minimum required surgery under local anesthesia; in children should always be done with general and also when patients are already undergoing surgeries before or scar problems or restrictive type.

Edited by Roser Berner Ubasos