Transcript Strabismus

DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELLING
Strabismus
ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM
Aravind Eye Hospital
& Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology
Definition for Strabismus (Squint)
Strabismus is defined as misalignment of eyes. It is
caused by a lack of coordination between the two
eyes. Hence the eyes look in different directions and
do not focus on the same object
 Hereditary
Causes
 Problems with the muscle or nerves that
central eye movements
 Due to poor vision (eg) Refractive error,
Cataract and Injuries
Symptoms
 Eye is turned in, out, up or down
 It may be constant (or) intermittent
 The eye may not move together
 The child may complaint of double vision, if
the squint occurs suddenly but for adult squint
develops late in life
Vision loss due to Squint
 The vision in the deviated eye decreases. This is
called amblyopia or lazy eye. It occurs because
the brain ignores the image / information sent to it
by the deviated eye
 Since both eyes are not used together at the same
time, the child loses the sense of depth perception
Treatment
All of the treatment depends up on the cause
Refractive errors:
Use of correct spectacles, if the vision is low and
child has a refractive error. Glass alone may align the
eyes in certain cases
Amblyopia
Treatment of the lazy eye by using glasses and
patching the good eye
Cont….
Cataract:
Cataract removal is must for the children's
Muscles Problem:
 The eye muscle are weakened or strengthened to re
align the eye
 Some cases require shifting of the muscle to a new
position
Role of Counsellor
The counsellor should explain the
 The cause of squint into the child
 How squint affects vision, appearance and academic
performance of the child
 Creating awareness of the squint
 Importance of using glass and patching to improve vision
if there is amblyopia
Cont…
 Tell the parents not get discouraged by hearing
other’s comments
 Counsel about surgery
 Moderate the parent’s expectations
 Surgery will only make the eyes straight but will not
improve or decrease the vision
 But for paediatric patient after squint surgery we are
doing patching so vision improvement is there
(below 0 – 10 years)
Importance of follow up
 To check vision
 To detect change in glass power
 To diagnose recurrence of squint
 And also improvement of the
patching