GLAUCOMA PROCEDURES Trabeculectomy:

Trabeculectomy is a type of glaucoma surgery that involves creating a new drainage channel for fluid inside the eye. This is an outpatient surgery that takes place in the operating room. It is used to prevent glaucoma-related visual loss from worsening by reducing eye pressure.

Trabeculectomy, unlike laser surgery, takes 4-6 weeks to fully recover. For around 6 weeks, your vision may be hazy. About half of the individuals who get this procedure don't need to take any drugs to reduce their intraocular pressure.

Trabeculectomy is a sensitive procedure that necessitates the use of an operating room, local eye anaesthetic, an anesthesiologist, and roughly an hour of operating time. Over the course of five years, it is successful in regulating ocular pressure 60-80% of the time.

Disease Overview:

Vision loss due to glaucoma

The injury to the optic nerve causes glaucoma. Blind patches form in your vision field when this nerve deteriorates. This nerve injury is frequently linked to increased ocular pressure for reasons that doctors don't completely understand.

Disease Signs and Symptoms:

• Around lights, seeing halos.
• There is a loss of vision.
• There's a tinge of redness in your eye.
• Eye that appears to be blurry (particularly in infants)
• Vomiting or an upset stomach.
• Pain in the eyes.

Disease Causes:

Glaucoma is a collection of eye diseases that affect the optic nerve, which is essential for proper vision. An excessively high pressure in your eye is typically the source of this injury. Glaucoma is one of the most common causes of blindness in persons over 60.

Disease Diagnosis:

A comprehensive eye exam is the only approach to diagnose glaucoma with certainty. Only checking ocular pressure during a glaucoma screening is insufficient to detect glaucoma.

Your ophthalmologist will do the following during a glaucoma exam:

• measure the pressure in your eyes
• Examine the drainage angle of your eye
• Check for damage to your optic nerve.
• Check your peripheral vision (side vision).
• Take a photograph of your optic nerve or use a computer to calculate its size.
• take a measurement of your cornea's thickness

Disease Treatment:

Eyedrops are typically used to treat glaucoma. These eye drops help to decrease ocular pressure when used on a daily basis. Some people achieve this by lowering the amount of aqueous fluid produced by the eye. Others assist fluid flow better via the drainage angle, reducing pressure.

Glaucoma drugs might help you preserve your eyesight, but they also have the potential to cause negative effects. Some eye drops have the potential to cause:

• the sensation of stinging or irritation
  
• Eyes that are red or the skin surrounding the eyes that are red
• alterations in your pulse and heartbeat alterations in your energy level alterations in your breathing (especially if you have asthma or breathing problems)
• vision blurred due to dry mouth
• changes in the colour of your eyes, the skin surrounding your eyes, or the look of your eyelids

All drugs have the potential to cause negative effects. When some medicines are combined with others, they might produce complications. It's critical to provide your doctor with a list of all the medications you use on a daily basis. If you suspect you're experiencing glaucoma medication side effects, make an appointment with your ophthalmologist.

Always consult your ophthalmologist before changing or stopping your glaucoma medicines. Ask your ophthalmologist if you should have your prescription refilled if you're going to run out of it.

Laser surgery

To cure glaucoma, there are two basic forms of laser surgery. They aid in the drainage of aqueous from the eye. These treatments are frequently performed in an outpatient surgical facility or at an ophthalmologist's office.

Trabeculoplasty. This operation can be used instead of or in addition to drugs for persons who have open-angle glaucoma. To improve the drainage angle, the eye surgeon utilises a laser. As a result, fluid drains effectively and ocular pressure is decreased.

Iridotomy. Angle-closure glaucoma patients should use this. A laser is used by the ophthalmologist to make a small hole in the iris. This hole aids in the passage of fluid to the drainage angle.

Surgery

Some glaucoma surgeries are performed in a hospital operating room. It opens up a new path for the aqueous humour to exit the eye.

Trabeculectomy. A little flap in the sclera is created by your eye surgeon. He or she will also generate a filtration bleb, which is a bubble (like a pocket) in the conjunctiva. It's normally tucked under the top eyelid and isn't visible. Aqueous humour will be able to drain from the eye and into the bleb through the flap. Fluid is absorbed by tissue around your eye in the bleb, decreasing ocular pressure.

Drainage devices for glaucoma. A small drainage tube may be implanted in your eye by an ophthalmologist. The fluid is sent to a collection region by the glaucoma drainage implant (called a reservoir). This reservoir is created beneath the conjunctiva by your eye surgeon. Following that, the fluid is absorbed into neighbouring blood arteries.

Cataract surgery is a procedure that is used to remove a cataract. The removal of the normal lens of the eye can reduce ocular pressure in certain patients with narrow angles. The iris and cornea are too close together when the angles are narrow. This can obstruct (block) the drainage duct in the eye. When the lens of the eye is removed during cataract surgery, more room is created for fluid to exit the eye. This can help to lessen your eye pressure.