Inverse Duane's retraction syndrome is very uncommon. Congenital cases are even more unusual. A 6-year-old girl with convergent squint along with severe restriction on abduction is described. On attempted abduction, a narrowing of the palpebral fissure, upshoot and retraction of the eyeball were observed. Brain and orbit MRI demonstrated no intracranial or intraorbital mass, fracture, or entrapment of the medial rectus. Forced duction test was strongly positive. The primary lesion was found to be a tight medial rectus with shortening and soft tissue contracture. Surgical tenotomy of the medial rectus led to successful postoperative motility, but some limitation at full adduction and abduction persisted. This is a case reported with congenital medial rectus shortening, suggesting that this condition may be one of the etiologies of the rare inverse Duane's retraction syndrome.
Case Report ; Child ; Contracture/physiopathology ; Contracture/etiology ; Duane Retraction Syndrome/surgery ; Duane Retraction Syndrome/physiopathology ; Duane Retraction Syndrome/congenital* ; Duane Retraction Syndrome/complications ; Eye Movements ; Female ; Human ; Oculomotor Muscles/surgery ; Oculomotor Muscles/physiopathology

We report a case of pseudo-Duane's retraction syndrome with entrapment of the medial rectus muscle in an old medial orbital wall fracture presenting identical clinical symptoms as Duane's retraction syndrome. A 15-year-old boy presented with persistent limited right eye movement since a young age. Examination showed marked limited abduction, mildly limited adduction, and globe retraction accompanied by narrowing of the palpebral fissure during attempted adduction in the right eye. He showed a right esotropia of 16 prism diopters and his head turned slightly to the right. A slight enophthalmos was noted in his right eye. A computed tomography scan demonstrated entrapment of the medial rectus muscle and surrounding tissues in an old medial orbital wall fracture. A forced duction test revealed a marked restriction of abduction in the right eye. A 5 mm recession of the right medial rectus muscle was performed. Postoperatively, the patient's head turn and esotropia in the primary position were successfully corrected, but there was still some limitations to his ocular movement. The importance of several tests such as the forced duction test and an imaging study should be emphasized in making a diagnosis for limitation of eye movement.
Adolescent ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Duane Retraction Syndrome/*diagnosis/etiology/physiopathology ; Eye Movements/*physiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Oculomotor Muscles/*physiopathology/surgery ; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures/methods ; Orbital Fractures/*complications/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed