MEDICAL ABSTRACTS: Combined surgery or trabeculectomy alone for patients with uncontrollable PACG

摘要

Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) is a debilitating, sight-threatening disease that is commonly found in the Asian population. Although initial treatment may be obtained with laser peripheral iridotomies, the patient more often than not will require additional surgeries, such as cataract extraction and/or a trabeculectomy to obtain adequate intraocular pressure (IOP) control. This retrospective study examined the long-term efficacy and safety of cataract surgery in conjunction with trabeculectomy versus tra-beculectomy alone. The researchers reviewed the charts of 99 Asian patients with PACG who either had cataract surgery with trabeculectomy (combined group) or trabeculectomy alone (trabeculectomy group) between January 1997 and February 2002. The combined procedure was performed on 75 individuals, whereas 24 had trabeculectomy alone. The combined group had either a trabeculectomy with extracapsular cataract extraction (46.7percent) or phaco-trabeculectomy (53.3percent). Pre- and postoperative visual acuity, IOP, and number of glaucoma medications were collected. Evaluations were given at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, and then at 6-month intervals for the next 3 years.