This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Adjunctive Botox shows promise in treating esotropia, exotropia
Combining botulinum toxin A injection with surgery can increase the expected correction of a conventional horizontal rectus muscle surgery, according to a small study.
Seyhan Bahar Özkan, MD, and colleagues at Adnan Menderes University
in Turkey analyzed 10 patients to assess the effectiveness of intraoperative
botulinum toxin A as an adjunct in large-angle esotropia or exotropia surgery.
Of the patients, seven were esotropic. Average preoperative esodeviation was
73.6 
D, and the average exodeviation was 76.7
D. All patients received five units of
botulinum toxin intraoperatively in one of the recessed horizontal rectus
muscles. The average follow-up was 14 months.
The average final deviation in the patients with exotropia was 4.7
D, and the average final deviation in
the patients with esotropia was 13 D. In all, 70% of
the patients achieved a final deviation within 10 D of esotropia or exotropia.
The study is published in the Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.