Minimal Invasive Procedures in Strabismus Surgery: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Purpose: To review the principles and different techniques of minimally invasive procedures in strabismus surgery.

Methods: This is a narrative review on minimally invasive procedures in strabismus surgery including general aspects and different new modifications on conventional strabismus surgery. We reviewed 24 articles published between 1993 and 2020.

Results: Minimal invasive procedures could be categorized into two subsets: one which minimizes conjunctival opening size and another which minimizes the muscle manipulations. Different conjunctival approaches have been introduced, such as Cul-de-sac and minimally invasive strabismus surgery incisions. Furthermore, there are different techniques for extraocular muscle weakening, strengthening, and transposition, such as mini-tenotomy, plication, mini-plication, Nishida, and modified Nishida procedures. Moreover, there are some techniques for handling strabismus in heavy eyes with high myopia and using adjustable sutures for strabismus correction.

Conclusions: Minimally invasive procedures in strabismus surgery consist of surgical procedures that minimize tissue disruption, speed up rehabilitation, and often ultimate better outcomes. These techniques could be replaced traditional methods to reduce conjunctival and lid swelling in the direct postoperative period.

Keywords: Conjunctival incisions; Minimally invasive strabismus surgery; Ophthalmology; Strabismus.