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You may need to take some medicine along with this surgery so scar tissue doesn’t form. Trabeculectomy: The surgeon will make a small cut in the white part of your eye to take out some of the mesh of tissue inside.
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You might have to go into the hospital or surgery center, and you’ll probably need a few weeks to heal and recover. If laser surgery or drugs don’t relieve your eye pressure, you may need a more traditional operation. What Are Some Other Types of Surgery for Glaucoma? You may need to stay on your medications after laser surgery to keep your eye pressure under control. You’ll need someone to drive you home after the surgery. In a couple of hours, the doctor will check your eye pressure. Your eyesight may be a little blurry right after the treatment. It may look like a very quick, bright flash. While you lie still, your doctor will hold a special lens up to your eye, then aim the laser at the exact spot where you need treatment. You shouldn’t feel much or even any pain during the treatment. You can usually have laser surgery in your doctor’s office or an outpatient eye clinic. You may need to repeat it over time to keep your glaucoma in check. They’ll beam a laser into a structure inside your eye to ease pressure. The extra fluid can drain and relieve pressure.Ĭyclophotocoagulation: If other laser treatments or surgery doesn't ease fluid buildup and pressure, your doctor can try this. LPI uses a laser beam to create a tiny hole in the iris. Fluid and pressure build up in this area. Laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI): If the space between your eye’s iris (the colored part) and cornea (the clear outer layer) is too small, you can get narrow-angle glaucoma. You can do SLT a little at a time. Oftentimes this may be the first surgical step because it is more specific. Your doctor beams a highly targeted low-level laser at just the spots where there’s pressure. Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT): If ALT doesn’t work so well, your doctor may try this. ALT works in about 75% of people with the most common kind of glaucoma.
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Your doctor may treat half of the clogs first, see how well it works, then treat the other half later. Here are some types of laser surgery for glaucoma:Īrgon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT): This opens clogs in your eye so fluid can drain out.
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WHEN I NEED YOU FULL
It can take a few weeks to see the full results.
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It’s aimed at your eye to help open clogged tubes and drain fluid. The laser is a beam of very focused light. You’ll be able to go home after the procedure and get back to your normal routine by the next day. You can get the treatments in your doctor’s office or at a clinic. What Are the Kinds of Surgery?ĭoctors may try laser surgery first. Some people need it right away if their eye pressure is high and puts their vision at risk. If the medicine causes severe side effects like high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, or impotence, you may want to try surgery instead. If drugs don’t work, surgery is the next step. Your eye doctor will give you prescription eye drops or rarely oral medicine to lower the pressure in your eye. This can damage the optic nerve inside your eye and harm your vision. Fluid in your eye can’t drain out the way it should. Glaucoma is a condition in which there is optic nerve damage or the threat of damage from (usually increased) pressure inside your eye, The eye, like a basketball, can become overinflated. Surgery isn’t usually the first step to treat glaucoma, but it may save your eyesight if other treatments don’t work.
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