We performed this study to evaluate the surgical outcome of exotropia in children younger than 10 years with a short, preoperative work-up.

The study subjects included 18 children who had received surgery for exotropia with preoperative work-ups less than 3 months. They were followed for more than 3 months after surgery. The age, symptoms, visual acuity, refractive errors, binocularity at surgery, and surgical results were analyzed.

The average age of the subjects was 9.6 years old, and the preoperative angle of deviation was 25 prism diopters (PD). Most of them (89%) showed intermittent exotropia and myopia. None of them had amblyopia or anisometropia. Of the 18 patients, 16 (89%) were able to fuse at near and distance, and 14 patients showed good stereopsis equal to or less than 200 sec of arc by the Titmus test. The surgery was performed on the basis of the maximum angle, and inferior oblique myectomy was simultaneously performed in three patients. At the postoperative 15 months, 13 (72%) of the 18 patients showed a deviated angle less than 10PD, and exotropia recurred in 5 (28%) patients.

The preoperative visual acuity and binocularity were relatively good, and the surgical outcome was also good in exotropic children younger than 10 years with a short preoperative work-up.