Strabismus can occur after retinal reattachment surgery with scleral buckling (SB). We performed surgical treatment of a large-angle esotropia after SB without buckle removal and achieved good surgical outcome.

A 21-year-male revisited our clinic for surgical treatment of esotropia. He had cicatricial retinopathy of prematurity in the right eye, and retinal detachment developed when he was 4 years old. Retinal reattachment surgery was performed with a 360-degree encircling band, a radial buckle at the 8 o'clock position, and a circumferential buckle ranging from the 7 to 11 o'clock position. He was not available for follow-up 2 years after surgery due to a change of residence, but exhibited a 5 prism diopters (PD) esotropia at the last visit. He demonstrated 55 PD esotropia of the right eye in the primary position with limited abduction. Surgery was performed without buckle removal, as recommended by a retinal specialist. Under general anesthesia, a forced duction test revealed a restriction of the medial rectus of the right eye. Exploration showed extensive adhesions around both the medial and lateral rectus with the buckle. Careful adhesiolysis and dissection were performed. A 8-mm resection of the lateral rectus and a 6-mm recession of the medial rectus were performed. The patient demonstrated favorable ocular alignment, and the limited abduction of the right eye improved after surgery.

We report a case of surgical treatment of a large-angle esotropia after SB without buckle removal. This case can be helpful for surgeons planning the treatment of strabismus in patients who had undergone SB.