Periosteal Flap fixation of the Globe for Surgical Treatment of Severe Restrictive Strabismus: A Report of Eight Cases with Outcomes.

PURPOSE: Severe paretic and restrictive strabismus presents a challenging surgical problem. Despite aggressive, and often multiple, surgical attempts, patients can have recurrence of large angle binocular misalignments. In this paper, we present a series of patients who underwent apically-based orbital bone periosteal flap fixation of the globe in cases of restrictive strabismus due to isolated third-nerve and sixth-nerve palsies, multiple cranial nerve palsies, and severe ocular fibrosis syndrome.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective study at our institution of patients who underwent a periosteal flap fixation. In all cases presented, the creation of the periosteal flap was performed by an orbital surgeon, and the strabismus surgery and follow-up data points were performed and collected by a strabologist.

RESULTS: A total of 8 patients underwent a periosteal flap fixation of the globe. The mean age was 48 years old. Three patients had a third cranial nerve palsy, one patient had congenital fibrosis, one patient had sixth cranial nerve palsy, and three patients had multiple cranial nerve palsies. Five patients had a medial periosteal flap constructed, and 3 patients had a temporal periosteal flap. Seven of the 8 patients had stable postoperative strabometry (binocular misalignment) measurements. A single patient required an additional procedure secondary to postoperative drift (a mild recurrence of binocular misalignment).

CONCLUSIONS: The surgical correction of severe paretic and restrictive strabismus is complex and can present a formidable challenge. The use of an orbital bone-based periosteal fixation flap, at our institution, has shown satisfactory outcomes not only with regard to improved postoperative deviation, but also, in that most patients required only this single procedure, usually after several prior unsuccessful interventions by standard strabismus surgery procedures.