My child suffers from congenital esotropia that has been present since the time she was born.  I need advice about whether she needs to have surgery now or at a later time (she is thirteen months of age).  If my child has surgery now, what will be the results?  If I wait to have the surgery done later, what will be the outcome?  Please kindly advise me. 

A child with congenital esotropia at age 13 months is a candidate for strabismus (eye muscle) surgery if there are no health related or other complicating factors that would be reason for delay.  Many ophthalmologists believe that the eyes work together better if early surgery resulting in alignment is done. There is some evidence supporting this, but it is subject to interpretation and early surgery is not subscribed to by all.  Early surgery, as early as four months of age, can be done safely and successfully by an experienced surgeon. If this is done, about four children in ten will have some measurable stereopsis or binocular depth perception especially at near.  About two-thirds of children who have surgery for congenital esotropia require on average at least one re-operation before reaching the teen years. Some, not many, require a total of three or four operations. After the mid-teen years, eyes that have been aligned tend to remain so.  There is no definite rule about the best time for surgery for congenital esotropia, but the trend among the most experienced ophthalmologists is to do surgery earlier rather than later.