Treatment and postoperative considerations for pediatric strabismus

Strabismus is not only an eye disease that affects the appearance of the eye, but more importantly, it can lead to a serious loss of vision and binocular vision. Because of the imperfect development of binocular vision function in infancy and early childhood, this period is often a high incidence of strabismus. The following issues should be noted in the treatment of pediatric strabismus: 1. Early detection and early treatment Once strabismus is detected, children should be treated as early as possible, which is essential to prevent the formation of amblyopia and establish binocular vision as early as possible. In addition, since strabismus often causes abnormal head position of the child, which is often referred to as “crooked head vision”, early treatment of strabismus is very important to correct the abnormal head position and avoid asymmetrical facial development and spinal deformity caused by “crooked head vision” of the child. Therefore, early treatment of strabismus is of great importance to correct the abnormal head position and avoid the adverse consequences such as asymmetry of facial development and deformity of spinal development caused by the child’s “skewed vision”. 2.Ophthalmic examination and non-surgical treatment of strabismus Once strabismus appears, we should first understand the child’s visual acuity and eye condition, because many children with congenital eye diseases are often manifested in a strabismic state, so detailed eye examination of strabismic children is very important. Depending on the age of the child and the type of strabismus, different dilating agents are used for pupil examination. After the pupil is dilated, the refractive status is checked with the pupil completely relaxed. If abnormalities are found, the child should be fitted with appropriate glasses and re-evaluated for any changes in strabismus while wearing the glasses. If the visual acuity is still poorly corrected after wearing glasses, amblyopia training is required. 3.Surgical treatment of strabismus Except for a small number of children with internal strabismus, which can be completely corrected by wearing suitable glasses for hyperopia, most of the strabismus patients need to be treated by surgery. Adjustment of sutures is not suitable for children with strabismus because of postoperative conjunctival edema, children’s fear of pain, and lack of cooperation. Microscopic strabismus surgery is the direction of strabismus surgery development in recent years due to its characteristics such as less damage, less bleeding and less scar formation after surgery. In addition, the detailed examination before surgery and the rich experience of doctors are crucial to improve the success rate of surgery. 4.Cautions after strabismus surgery After strabismus surgery, the incision gradually heals and the muscle and conjunctiva become edematous. Therefore, the purpose of anti-inflammation, prevention of infection and elimination of edema and inhibition of scar formation is mainly achieved through eye drops within 3 weeks after surgery. For children with refractive error and amblyopia, glasses and amblyopia therapy are still required after surgery. In order to consolidate the eye position after strabismus surgery and to restore the binocular vision of the child more quickly, individualized treatment plans can be developed to enhance the fusion and stereopsis of each child. Finally, it is important to emphasize that regular postoperative reviews should be performed to detect possible recurrence of strabismus and to provide timely treatment.