Visuomotor control following surgical correction of strabismus in adults

Objective: To determine whether surgery to correct decompensated exotropia in adulthood had an impact on common visually guided manual tasks in the postoperative period. Design: Case report. Participants: Three adult patients with long-standing strabismus. Methods: Three adult patients took part in a series of preoperative and postoperative binocular and monocular reaching and grasping tasks before and after undergoing strabismus surgery. Tasks were designed to examine normal goal-directed actions (reaching to visual targets, grasping blocks) and to highlight differences between binocular and monocular control of action (grasping visible object in dark environment). Results: A consistent pattern of change was not found in the 6- o 12-month postoperative period with the tasks provided. Conclusions: Surgery in adulthood to correct strabismus may not have a significant impact on the control of visually guided actions, at least in the first 6 to 12 months after surgery. Possibly, compensatory strategies used throughout their development (e.g., monocular cues) may continue to be used in the initial period postoperative period. More subjects and longer study period are recommended to make a definitive conclusion.