The treatment of amblyopia, particularly anisometropic (difference in refractive correction) and/or strabismic (turn of one eye) amblyopia has long been a challenge for many clinicians. Achieving optimum outcomes, where the amblyopic eye reaches a visual acuity similar to the fellow eye, is often impossible in many patients. Part of this challenge has resulted from a previous lack of scientific evidence for amblyopia treatment that was highlight by a systematic review by Snowdon et?al. in 1998. Since this review, a number of publications have revealed new findings in the treatment of amblyopia. This includes the finding that less intensive occlusion treatments can be successful in treating amblyopia. A relationship between adherence to treatment and visual acuity has also been established and has been shown to be influenced by the use of intervention material. In addition, there is growing evidence of that a period of glasses wearing only can significantly improve visual acuity alone without any other modes of treatment. This review article reports findings since the Snowdon's report. Keywords Amblyopia ; Treatment ; Occlusion ; Review prs.rt("abs_end"); Figure options Download full-size image Download as PowerPoint slide Unilateral amblyopia is a loss in visual function in one eye in comparison to the other and is often caused by other associated factors that force the visual system to prefer one eye over another [1] . The most common of these factors is a difference in refractive error between the two eyes, usually in spherical correction (anisometropic amblyopia) and/or a strabismus (strabismic amblyopia). Many other forms of unilateral amblyopia occur as a result of pathological changes in the structure in or around the eye such as unilateral cataracts or ptosis (stimulus deprivation amblyopia). A challenge in the treatment of amblyopia is that there is often no apparent structural reason why there is a limitation of vision and yet many amblyopes, after several years of amblyopia treatment, fail to reach successful outcomes. Since as early as the 1st century AD [2] covering of the dominant eye to increase visual acuity in the amblyopic eye, now referred to as occlusion therapy, has been suggested as the standard form of treatment in anisometropic and strabismus amblyopia. However, it was not until the Snowdon's report [3] in 1998 that it became apparent that evidence-based research about treatment modalities in amblyopia was lacking. As a result of these findings, there has been a significant increase in publications of randomized controlled studies in amblyopia. This review will explore the new findings since this report and discuss future areas of interest for amblyopia treatment. Refractive therapy In children with amblyopia, in particular when a strabismus is present, it is recommended that full refractive correction should be prescribed [4] . However, there is some confliction within literature with regards prescribing full prescription due to its possible effects on emmetropization. In a study by Atkinson et?al. [5] they found that those who were prescribed a partial correction in comparison to those who were prescribed no refractive correction the process of emmetropization was the same. In contrast, a randomized control trial (RCT) study by Ingram et?al. ( n =?287) [6] , showed that those who were prescribed full correction from the age of 6 months and had good adherence to glasses wear, the effect on emmetropization was significantly delayed in comparison to those who were poor compliers or were not prescribed any refractive correction. Further investigation regarding the amount of hyperopia that affects emmetropization is still required. In 2002, Moseley et?al. [7] reported the results of 13 anisometropic and strabsimic amblyopes who were prescribed refractive correction only, they showed for the first time that amblyopic subjects can gain significant improvements in visual outcome with refractive correction alone. In a later study [8] , 14 of 65 amblyopic subjects (interocular difference in visual acuity of >0.1) had a resolution of their amblyopia with glasses alone, and no further treatment was required. The mean improvement in visual acuity for the 65 patients was 0.18 LogMAR with the majority of cases achieving maximum improvement within the first 18 weeks of wearing refractive correction. There was no significant difference in the level of improvement between different types of amblyopia, (anisometropic, strabismic or strabismus with anisometropia) p =?0.29. However, a recent survey of orthoptists reported 94% prescribe a period of refractive correction before implementing further treatment, although this is lower for strabismic (75%) or strabismic and anisometropic amblyopia (79%) [9] . This period of refractive correction is also commonly referred to as refractive adaptation or refractive treatment [8] . Limitations of this study include no randomized control group and the inclusion o
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