What are some possible complications of adjustable suture surgery?
Breakage of the suture or cutting of the knot can occur during an adjustment. If this happens, some patients will need to go back to the operating room to properly secure the muscle. Sometimes the muscle won’t move forward or backward as desired. This can be due to healing of the muscle to the sclera, especially for late adjustments, restricted or scarred muscles, or muscles that have lost some of their elasticity. The heart rate can slow down in some people when an eye muscle has tension put on it, and some people feel faint and nauseous. These reactions are usually very short lived and not serious or severe. Sometimes the measurements are variable right after surgery and it’s difficult to know what the “real” measurement is. Blurred vision and pain can limit the patients ability to cooperate with both the measurements and the adjustment procedure.
