Glaucoma Laser Surgery Procedure

You should be able to see right after the surgery.

Glaucoma laser surgery procedure.

It works by using a laser to help the fluid in your eye drain away which can help lower the pressure in your eye. Long term benefits of glaucoma laser surgery. According to the glaucoma research foundation this laser glaucoma surgery can lower eye pressure by 20 to 30 percent and is successful in about 80 of patients. Safer procedures on the horizon.

This opens clogs in your eye so fluid can drain out. Your eyes may feel itchy or gritty and swollen but these feelings should go away in 1 or 2 days. Here are some types of laser surgery for glaucoma. This is where the iris the coloured bit of the eye is pushed forward blocking off the natural drainage pathway for the fluid in the eye.

Migs minimally invasive glaucoma surgery are a group of newer procedures that are usually combined with cataract surgery to lower eye pressure to the mid teens range. However for some glaucoma surgeries it is better to perform the glaucoma surgery alone and address the cataract later in a second operation. Though the reduction in eye pressure from slt may not be permanent the procedure can often be safely repeated if needed. During laser surgery a focused beam of light is used to treat the eye s trabecular meshwork the eye s drainage system.

This helps increase the flow of fluid out of the eye. Your doctor may treat half of the clogs first see how. Doctors often recommend laser surgery before incisional surgery unless the eye pressure is very high or the optic nerve is badly damaged. You may be sensitive to light and have slightly blurred vision as your eyes.

Glaucoma laser surgery is usually done at a doctor s office or outpatient surgery clinic. Selective laser trabeculoplasty or slt is a form of laser surgery that is used to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma. Glaucoma laser surgeries help to lower the intraocular pressure iop in the eye. The cost for an uninsured individual or with an insurance co pay will vary.

Laser treatment or trabeculoplasty is a simple procedure to treat glaucoma that your eye doctor can do in the office. One or both eyes may be done. Once the eye has been numbed there should be little or no pain and discomfort. To help lower your eye pressure he or she will also put a tiny plastic tube called a shunt under the thin clear membrane covering the white of your eye.

Since the procedure is an accepted glaucoma treatment and is fda approved it is covered by medicare and medical insurance. Cataract surgery and glaucoma shunt procedures during this surgery your ophthalmologist will remove your eye s cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial one. Find out whether you need laser treatment how it works and what happens afterward. Laser iridotomy and laser iridoplasty are used to treat angle closure glaucoma or narrow angles.