Glaucoma surgery

GLAUCOMA SURGICAL PROCEDURES

Trabeculectomy is the gold standard in glaucoma surgery. An effective reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) is achieved by creating a small opening in the sclera at the line where it joins the cornea of the eye. The opening is not visible and is located under the upper eyelid. Trabeculectomy is possible in open angle and closed angle glaucoma in cases where antiglaucoma drops cannot lower the IOP sufficiently, and interventions such as laser trabeculoplasty or laser iridotomy have already been performed on the patient or, for certain reasons, one of them cannot be performed. The operation is done under local anaesthesia and recovery takes about a month and involves instilling drops. The patient is discharged home immediately after the intervention.

Trabeculectomy with a filtering implant of the eXpress shunt type is possible in cases where a more predictable reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) after the operation is desired, or after a trabeculectomy in which the IOP has risen again. The operation is done under local anaesthesia and recovery takes about a month and involves instilling drops. The patient is discharged home immediately after the intervention.

Laser trabeculoplasty is a painless intervention, without dilation of the pupils, which lasts a few minutes and is carried out on an outpatient basis with the use of a local anaesthetic in the form of drops. Before the intervention, a glaucoma examination determines whether the type of glaucoma the patient has, as well as the anatomy of the eye itself, allow this type of intervention to be performed.

Laser iridotomy is a painless intervention performed in patients with closed angle glaucoma in carefully selected cases. With prior preparation of the patient, the intervention itself lasts a couple of minutes and is carried out on an outpatient basis with the use of a local anaesthetic in the form of drops.

Cryo anemization of the ciliary body is a surgical procedure for decompensated forms of glaucoma in which therapy with drops no longer has an effect on lowering the intraocular pressure, and other surgical procedures have already been performed or cannot be performed. This procedure is performed only in patients who have very low visual acuity as a consequence of damage to the optic nerve from glaucoma.