Peribulbar versus general anesthesia for horizontal strabismus surgery

Purpose: To compare the results of strabismus surgery under peribulbar and general anesthesia in cases of small and moderate angle of horizontal strabismus. Methods: Medical records of eighty-four patients with small and moderate angle horizontal strabismus who underwent strabismus surgery were reviewed. Forty-two patients were submitted to the surgery under peribulbar anesthesia and forty-two under general anesthesia. The surgery was considered satisfactory when postoperative angle was 10 prism diopters or less. Results: Surgery was satisfactory in all patients. Mann-Whitney test showed no difference in the preoperative angle of deviation (p=0.366) and in the postoperative results (p=0.800) between the two groups. Adjusting for the variables age and type of strabismus (esotropia and exotropia), ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) results showed no statistical difference (p=0.368). There were no complications due to surgery or anesthesia in either group. Conclusions: This study suggested that there was no difference between the postoperative results of strabismus surgery under peribulbar and general anesthesia in small and moderate angle of horizontal strabismus.