Interocular difference associated with myopic progression following unilateral lateral rectus recession in early school-aged children

To compare refractive changes in operated eyes and fellow unoperated eyes following unilateral lateral rectus recession in early school-aged children. A retrospective case control study. The medical records of children under ten years of age with intermittent exotropia who underwent unilateral lateral recession surgery were reviewed. The operated eyes were reviewed and the fellow unoperated eyes were used as control. The rate of myopic progression was calculated by spherical equivalent (SE) changes per year, and by the rate of refractive growth (RRG) equation. SE showed a myopic shift one week after surgery and in the following months, from -1.43 ± 1.84 diopters (D) at 1 week post operation to -1.57 ± 2.22 D at one year and, finally -2.95 ± 2.97 D at the average 4.62 years following surgery. However, the SE shift was not significantly different from the unoperated eye. The low myopia group (under -3.0 D) showed a significantly higher myopic change in the operated eye until one year post operation (p = 0.022). The average myopic shift ratio was -0.53 ± 0.46 D yearly in the operated eye. This study presents data of a large series of refractive changes secondary to lateral rectus recession, and of long-term myopia progression in Korean population.