ABSTRACT
Purpose
To compare non–absorbable and absorbable sutures for medial rectus advancement in consecutive exotropia
Methods
In a pilot randomized clinical trial, 40 subjects with consecutive exotropia >15 PD that underwent unilateral medial rectus advancement with or without resection were randomly assigned to two groups: using non-absorbable (polyester) suture in the non-absorbable group and absorbable (vicryl) suture in the absorbable group. The success rate was defined as the final postoperative angle of deviation <10 PD.
Results
Thirty-three patients (18 in the non-absorbable and 15 in the absorbable group) had completed the study. At last follow-up, the distance deviation improved from 29.2 ± 15.5 to 7.6 ± 7.9 in the non-absorbable group and from 25.9 ± 8.4 to 8.1 ± 10.7 in the absorbable group. The near deviation improved from 31.4 ± 15.9 to 7.2 ± 8.0 in the non-absorbable and from 29.0 ± 7.6 to 6.8 ± 11.9 in the absorbable group. The amount of the final correction of the distance and near deviation was not statistically different between the groups (P = .80 and P = .99, respectively). At the final examination, the exoshifts for distance and near were not statistically different between 2 groups (p = .61 and 0.54, respectively). At the final examination, the success was obtained in 12 patients (66.7%) and 8 patients (53.3%) in the non-absorbable and absorbable group, respectively (p = .73).
Conclusion
In our study, there was no statistical difference in success rate or exoshift between non-absorbable and absorbable sutures. So, considering local inflammation induced by non-absorbable sutures in some cases, the absorbable sutures can be an appropriate option for the treatment of consecutive exotropia.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).