ORBIS International, a non-profit humanitarian organization, teaches surgical techniques for strabismus (squint) in developing countries. Strabismus is a medical condition in which the eyes don’t work together and look in the same direction. The most common form of strabismus is estropia, or a turning in of the eyes, although the misalignment

This little girl from Delhi, India,  has strabismus.

can occur in any direction and be of any size.

Types of strabismus include:

• Exotropia, in which one eye turns out or away from the direction of sight
• Hypertropia, in which one eye turns up
• Hypotropia, in which one eye turns down

Because it’s impossible to focus accurately on two things at once, the brain will tune out input from the deviated eye and use the aligned eye to focus. This avoids double vision but can lead to amblyopia (lazy eye), a condition in which the brain doesn’t learn to see normally through the affected eye. The weaker eye may regress to the level of legal blindness if lazy eye is allowed to remain untreated into late childhood or adolescence.

Although strabismus can occur in adults, usually as the result of trauma or stroke, it typically begins in children and often persists into adulthood. Strabismus is commonly referred to as “crossed eyes,”  “wandering eyes” or having a “cast.”

Treatment for strabismus

Treatment for strabismus includes:

• Eyeglasses that redirect the line of sight, improving focus, especially in cases of uncorrected farsightedness
• Prism incorporated into eyeglasses
• Surgery to alter the strength of the eye muscles
• Botox injections to alter the relative strength of the eye muscles

Treatment for lazy eye includes:

• Proper glasses to correct the refractive error
• Carefully supervised patching of the stronger eye
• Drops to blur the stronger eye

What ORBIS is doing about strabismus in developing countries

ORBIS is providing advanced training in pediatric ophthalmology so that doctors in developing countries know how to diagnose and treat strabismus, including how to perform the surgery to tighten the eye muscles. Teaching is accomplished through:

• Flying Eye Hospital hands-on training
• One-on-one training during hospital-based programs
• Cyber-Sight — an online program offering educational consults and interactive patient consultation provided by international experts