Outcomes of "a new modification of Jensen technique combined with medial rectus recession" in patients with complete sixth cranial nerve palsy.

BACKGROUND

To report the outcomes of "our modified Jensen technique" for treating esotropia in cases with complete sixth cranial nerve (CN VI) palsy.

METHODS

This study is a 30-year case series of isolated complete CN VI palsy who underwent combined medial rectus recession and our modified Jensen operation. We modified the original technique by anchoring the muscle-unifying sutures to the sclera near the equator using a non-absorbable suture. Major outcomes such as postoperative diplopia, face turn, horizontal and vertical eye deviations, and abduction limitation were assessed. Successful surgery was defined as orthotropia or esotropia equal to or less than 8 prism diopters (PD) and the absence of any vertical deviation.

RESULTS

Fifty-three cases with a mean age of 28 years old were included in this study. The male-to-female ratio was 3 to 1. Forty-five cases (85%) presented with unilateral palsy, whereas 8 patients (15%) had bilateral palsy. Trauma was the most common etiology (85%). Diplopia or face turn, presented in 42 patients before the operation, remained in seven cases after the operation. Primary position esotropia, which was the main complaint in all patients, decreased from 49 PD to 4 PD in unilateral palsy and from 101 PD to 10 PD in bilateral palsy. The mean reduction of abduction deficit was 1.78 in unilateral and 1.75 in bilateral palsy. The success rate was 76% in unilateral and 62% in bilateral palsy.

CONCLUSION

Our modified Jensen operation was effective in treating patients with complete CN VI palsy, producing no significant permanent complications.