What happens when the lateral rectus is damaged?

What happens when the lateral rectus is damaged?

Damage at any point along its path can cause the nerve to work poorly or not at all. Because the lateral rectus muscle can no longer contract properly, your eye turns inward toward your nose. Sometimes, sixth nerve palsy happens without any other symptoms. This is called isolated sixth nerve palsy.

What causes lateral rectus palsy?

The most common causes of sixth cranial nerve palsy are stroke, trauma, viral illness, brain tumor, inflammation, infection, migraine headache and elevated pressure inside the brain. The condition can be present at birth; however, the most common cause in children is trauma.

What is lateral rectus palsy?

Sixth nerve palsy is also known as lateral rectus palsy. Palsy is a type of full or partial paralysis. Your lateral rectus muscle is one of seven eye muscles located outside your eye. Each muscle moves the eye in one specific direction. The eye muscles work together to allow your eye to move in every direction.

What is the function of the lateral rectus muscle?

The lateral rectus is a flat-shaped muscle, and it is wider in its anterior part. The lateral rectus muscle is an abductor and moves the eye laterally, and side to side along with the medial rectus, which is an adductor.

How long is the lateral rectus muscle?

Extraocular Muscles The insertion parallels that of the medial rectus and is approximately 6.9 mm from the limbus, and the length of the tendon is approximately 8.8 mm.

How do you check lateral rectus palsy?

Typical features of a lateral rectus palsy include:

1. Sudden onset of horizontal double vision, which is worse when the patient looks to the affected side.
2. Limited outward movement of the affected eye.
3. A convergent strabismus that is large when the patient tries to look at an object in the distance.

How is nerve palsy treated?

If inflammation of the sixth nerve is suspected, medications called corticosteroids may be used. Until the nerve heals, wearing an eye patch can help with double vision. Prism spectacles can also help to realign eyesight. After a period of observation, strabismus surgery may be considered.

How do you test the lateral rectus?

The lateral and medial rectus muscles are tested by asking the patient to look to the right then to the left. The actions of the superior and inferior rectus muscles are isolated by testing them when the optic axis is aligned along the orbital axis, (requiring the patient to look laterally) one eyeball at a time.

What is the nerve supply of lateral rectus muscle?

The lateral rectus is innervated by cranial nerve VI, the abducens nerve, which enters on the medial side of the muscle.

What abducts the eye using lateral rectus muscle?

Motility, Position, and Extraocular Muscles Cranial nerve VI innervates the lateral rectus, which abducts (turns out) the eye. Cranial nerve IV innervates the superior oblique, which abducts, depresses, and intorts (rotates in) the eye.

Can nerve palsy be cured?

Treatment. In some cases, sixth nerve palsy will disappear without treatment. If inflammation of the sixth nerve is suspected, medications called corticosteroids may be used. Until the nerve heals, wearing an eye patch can help with double vision.