Abstract

Purpose: There are several treatments for intermittent exotropia which include both surgical and nonsurgical treatment options. Nonsurgical management of intermittent exotropia includes observation, patching, prisms, over-minus lenses and vision therapy. The goal is to determine whether visual therapy is effective for intermittent strabismus.

Methods: A search strategy was developed using a combination of the words intermittent exotropia, nonsurgical management, orthoptics, binocular vision therapy, exodeviations, fusion exercises. The most used electronic databases were: PubMed, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, Google Scholar. A total of nineteen articles were used in this literature review.

Results: Research shows that vision therapy significantly improves the distance control of exodeviation and reduces the near exodeviation magnitude. Vision therapy is effective in reducing symptoms and improving signs of intermittent exotropia. The basic angle of deviation remained unchanged in most of the patients nevertheless significant functional and symptomatic improvement was obtained. A combination of vision therapy and surgery showed the best results in the treatment of intermittent exotropia.

Conclusions: More comprehensive randomized controlled trial studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of vision therapy and these should include long term follow-ups.

Key words: Intermittent exotropia, vision therapy