Abducens Nerve Lesions

Abstract

When you approach a patient with a deficit of the eye muscles, or see a board question, think of two parts to the typical scenario. The first part is when the patient is sitting in your office and you notice, or suspect, that something is amiss with the eyes. The second part of the exam is when you formally test the muscles by asking the patient to follow your finger as you move them through the test. We will first look at the actions of the eye muscles and their respective nerves. We will then look at how you would test the muscle and nerves. To do this we are going to look at two pictures to discuss the eye muscles.