IGLAUCOMA TODAYISUMMER 2011 COVER STORY Continued from page 38 SUMMER 2011IGLAUCOMA TODAYI COVER STORY IGLAUCOMA TODAYISUMMER 2011 Incisional surgery is very unlikely to becomethe preferred first l ID: 958802
Download Pdf The PPT/PDF document "A Combined ApproachThere is a trend towa..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
A Combined ApproachThere is a trend toward conducting studies that com-pare a new glaucoma procedure in conjunction withcataract surgery using phacoemulsification to cataractsurgery alone.The combined procedure often providesa marginal added benefit in terms of reducing IOP andthe need for medication. Can surgery truly be consideredthe first line in this situation, however, when the overrid-ing reason to perform surgery in man
y of these cases wasto remove the cataract to improve visual acuity? Also,the cataract surgery by itself often lowers the IOP and IGLAUCOMA TODAYISUMMER 2011 COVER STORY (Continued from page 38) SUMMER 2011IGLAUCOMA TODAYI COVER STORY IGLAUCOMA TODAYISUMMER 2011 Incisional surgery is very unlikely to becomethe preferred first line of treatment for glau-coma in the near or distant future in theUnited States. The relative effec
tiveness ofglaucoma medications and the downside ofsurgery have combined to create a treat-ment protocol in which medications are used first andsurgery is deferred until maximal medical treatment isinadequate to prevent progression of the disease. SURGERY TODAYTrabeculectomy remains the standard incisional glauco-ma surgery. In some parts of the world, including England,surgery has been considered the optimal initial therapy t