Vision therapy plus patching outperforms patching alone in amblyopia treatment

Combining patching with active vision therapy, especially programs targeting accommodative, motor, and fixation skills, leads to better outcomes for improving visual acuity in children with amblyopia compared to patching alone, according to a study.

The study compared outcomes from 2 active therapies combined with patching and 1 using patching alone in children aged 4 to 12 years.

Fifty-two children with amblyopia were randomly placed into three different treatment groups: two-hour patching (n = 18), perceptual learning with patching (n = 17), and a combination of vision therapy with 2-hour patching (n = 17). Their visual progress was evaluated after 3 months and compared to a control group with normal vision (n = 36).

After 3 months, all treatment groups showed significant improvement in visual acuity and stereoacuity. However, the most substantial gains were seen in the group receiving vision therapy plus patching, followed by the perceptual learning group. Patching alone was the least effective. The study also found that children with poorer initial vision experienced greater improvements.

Reference
Hernández-Andrés R, Serrano MÁ, Alacreu-Crespo A, et al. Randomised trial of three treatments for amblyopia: Vision therapy and patching, perceptual learning and patching alone. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2024;doi: 10.1111/opo.13395. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39396111.