Nasal lateral rectus transposition combined with medial rectus surgery for complete oculomotor nerve palsy

Abstract

Complete paralysis of the oculomotor nerve results in the lateral rectus and superior oblique muscles acting unopposed and the eye being fixed in an abducted, slightly depressed and intorted position. The goal of strabismus surgery in such cases is to achieve an acceptable alignment in primary position. Simple recession-resection procedures may not yield acceptable results, and numerous other procedures have been attempted, with limited success. We report the outcome of nasal transposition of two halves of the lateral rectus muscle combined with medial rectus surgery in 3 cases of total oculomotor nerve palsy.