Strabismus surgery in poor binocular potential: Change in quality of life

Background: Previous studies prove improvement in quality of life (QOL) after strabismus surgery. Aims: The aim is to study the change in QOL and binocular functions after strabismus surgery in patients with poor binocular potential. Setting and Design: A tertiary care center-based prospective study was done over a period of 1 year to evaluate the change in scores of adult strabismus-20 (AS-20) questionnaire after successful strabismus surgery. Materials and Methods: All patients above 10 years attending the orthoptic clinic with horizontal squint were evaluated for their probability of gaining binocularity on binocular potential score and were graded into four categories. Those with poor grade of binocular potential, having a poor chance of regaining binocularity after surgery, were included in the study. They underwent surgical ocular alignment and answered the AS-20 questionnaire for QOL preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. Statistical Analysis Used: Comparison of preoperative scores was done using unpaired t-test. The mean pre- and post-operative scores were compared using paired t-test. Two-sided significance level with P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of 53 patients, surgical outcomes of 5 were outside successful limits. Of the remaining, 18 (37.5%) were esotropic and 30 (62.5%) had exotropia. Improvement in the mean psychosocial and functional scores was 13.1 ± 6.0 and 7.6 ± 6.3, respectively. Mean overall, psychosocial, and functional QOL scores were significantly higher after successful surgical ocular alignment. Conclusion: Statistically significant improvement occurs in psychosocial and functional QOL of strabismus patients (on AS-20) with poor binocular potential undergoing successful strabismus surgery. Thus, ocular alignment in such cases can be a feasible option for improving QOL rather than mere cosmetic comeback.