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Abstract
Background
A total of seven anterior ciliary arteries, branching from the ophthalmic artery, travel in the rectus muscles.1 Strabismus surgery done in one or more stages involves cutting one or more (sometimes all) ciliary arteries.2 It is known that ciliary artery circulation is not re-established when muscles are reattached to the globe. This study was done to determine whether disruption of one or more anterior ciliary arteries as a result of strabismus surgery alters the growth of the globe as measured by the axial length.
Methods
A-scan biometry was used to measure the axial length in patients who had undergone bilateral medial rectus recession and in age-matched controls. Our study population was restricted to children over 7 years of age who had strabismus surgery before age three.
Results
Two-hundred and sixty-two eyes were measured in 135 children distributed equally between sexes. Twenty-seven patients (20.0% of the total population) had strabismus surgery before the age of 3, and one-hundred and eight patients (80.0%) served as control. Data were analyzed using the SAS system through the General Linear Models Procedure. After controlling for age and refractions, there was no difference in axial length between the surgical and non-surgical population, with P=0.576 in OD and P=0.935 in OS (P>0.05).
Conclusion
Interruption of anterior ciliary artery circulation by strabismus surgery before age 3 does not alter the globe growth during the first four years after surgery. Therefore, we conclude that any long-term change in refraction after strabismus surgery is not due to surgery induced changes in axial length.