Modern Glaucoma Surgery

Modern Glaucoma Surgery

current medical regimen, and a specific list of thresholds for re-referring the patient back to the surgeon

(bleb leak, elevated IOP, etc). The surgeon’s office should also call the referring doctor’s office to arrange

the first appointment in order to prevent the patient from falling through the cracks and being lost to

follow-up.

CONCLUSION

In this course, the various glaucoma procedures have been described with the goals of enhancing one’s

understanding of how each procedure achieves IOP reduction and guiding the selection of a specific

procedure for each individual patient based on the clinical setting. Most patients with glaucoma will

achieve adequate IOP control using medications or laser therapy and will not require surgical

intervention. For those whose disease cannot be controlled by any other means, there are many different

glaucoma procedures available. These procedures differ in technique, safety and efficacy profile, and

appropriateness in various clinical settings, but they all share a single goal of lowering IOP. Factors that

guide the selection of a particular procedure for a given patient include the type of glaucoma, its severity,

the target IOP to be achieved, a history of prior ocular surgery, and the visual potential of the eye. The

range of potential complications has also been discussed with the goal of improving postoperative

evaluation of eyes having recently undergone glaucoma surgery. Familiarity with modern glaucoma

surgical procedures provides the ophthalmic technician with skills to better care for glaucoma patients

before, during and after their procedure.