Single Injection of Bupivacaine for Correction of Strabismus

A retrospective review of 30 patients with eso/exodeviations less than 20 prism diopters (PD) who underwent one injection of BPX into their medial/lateral rectus was carried out. Preoperative deviations were recorded in PD, using the alternate prism cover test. Postoperative angles at 1 and 3 months were measured in the same manner. 11 out of 30 patients achieved an acceptable outcome and required no further intervention. The mean angle of deviation for near in all patients reduced significantly by 3.1 PD and 2.1 PD at 1 and 3 months. The mean angle of deviation for distance in all patients also decreased significantly by 2.3 PD and 1.9 PD at 1 and 3 months. In conclusion, single injection of BPX in a heterogeneous group of patients with horizontal strabismus caused a mild improvement and a qualitative success rate of 37%.