LAUSR

BackgroundTo investigate prognostic factors in patients with augmented superior rectus transposition (SRT) for sixth nerve palsy.MethodsThirteen patients who were diagnosed with sixth nerve palsy and underwent augmented SRT between January 2015 and February 2017 in EENT Hospital of Fudan University were reviewed retrospectively. Data including age, sex, etiology of the abducens nerve palsy, degree of pre- and postoperative deviation in the primary position, pre- and postoperative abduction deficit, any induced vertical or torsional deviations, reoperations, and other complications was collected. Patients with undercorrection of SRT surgeries received additional inferior rectus transposition (IRT) surgery.ResultsMean esodeviation in primary position improved from 81.92△ to 30.54△ (p < 0.001) with a 1.54-unit improvement in abduction (p = 0.001). Six patients achieved alignment defined as esodeviation in primary position within 10△ of orthotropia and seven patients were undercorrected after the first SRT surgery. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that among factors (disease duration, preoperative esodeviation, preoperative abduction deficit), only the degree of preoperative abduction deficit (β = − 13.68) was the prognostic factor for success of SRT surgery. After IRT procedures, the mean esodeviation in primary position improved from 40△ to 8△ (p < 0.01).ConclusionThe degree of preoperative abduction deficit is the prognostic factor for augmented SRT for sixth nerve palsy. Patients with worse abduction deficit have a greater likelihood of needing a secondary operation, and IRT could be a good choice for reoperation after SRT.