AIM: To study the clinical application of Clifford Terry slippery knot combined with adjustable suture in strabismus surgery.

METHODS: By adopting the method of retrospective study, from May 2012 to May 2016, 45 patients(71 eyes)underwent conventional strabismus correction and 45 patients(70 eyes)who underwent Clifford Terry slanting correction were selected as control subjects the study subjects. The patients were followed up for 1d-12mo. Observation of postoperative eye, adjusted eye position and whether or not had a second operation were taken. Postoperative eye position was compared with preoperative eye position.

RESULTS: After Clifford Terry suture combined with adjustable suture, 42 cases with 67 eyes reached the anteroposterior position on the first day, one eye reached overcorrection, two eyes undercorrection. Correscted rate was 96%. After elasticity adjusted by Clifford Terry slippage adjustment, corrected rate was 100%. Eye position of the study group at 1, 3, 6 and 12mo postoperative had no significant difference compared with control group. Conjunctival dehiscence, muscle slippage, the postoperative complications such as infection did not appear in the two groups.

CONCLUSION: Clifford Terry technique is simple in operation and easy to adjust the suture tightness after operation. Combined with adjustable suture in strabismus surgery, the target eye position can be easily reached in the operation or early after operation under surface anesthesia, the risk of second operation can be reduced. This operation is better than adjustable suture alone.