Strabismus surgery for my 6 yr old

[delissimo12]

From the time my daughter was 18 months she has suffered with both eyes being lazy at different times with the left being the dominant eye...usually when she is tired. She is now 6, and seems to not have quite the control she used to have over them.Her Dr. has been pushing for the surgery since 18 months old. Everything I have read on the surgery and condition itself is so confusing, and there seems to be other options to try rather than jumping into surgery...may I add that her Dr is also the surgeon so I can see why surgery would be the only option in his eyes! Has anyone dealt with this condition? From the info I gather the surgery has a pretty low success rate that most often requires multiple surgeries and no guarantees. Any advice and info is appreciated!

[Timothy D McGarity, M.D.]

Strabismus surgery has a lower success rate than some other eye surgeries, but overall the success rate is still high. Of course it really depends on what type of strabismus your child has and if there is lazy eye which could be improved with glasses or patching, etc. It sounds like you should get a second opinion from another strabismus surgeon. Esotropia surgery is generally very successful, whereas oblique or "pattern deviations" can be a little trickier.
Sincerely
Timothy D. McGarity, M.D.

[delissimo12]

Thank you for your speedy response! My daughter was diagnosed with intermittent extropia. At the time she was tested it was 4:00...after school, and I knew she was tired! Her control was rated as poor since it took her quite a bit of effort to pull it back in once they manipulated it to go out. I hate the idea of jumping into surgery without ANY other option being explored first...which is what the specialist is saying!