Surgery of primary open angle glaucoma

The selection of the surgical approach to glaucoma depends primarily on the type of glaucoma. Filtration surgery (trabeculectomy) is considered the gold standard for the most common form of glaucoma, primary open angle glaucoma. The technique of surgery has been continuously improved during the past years resulting in less immediate postoperative complications such as flat anterior chamber, choroidal detachment and hypotony. The major problem of glaucoma surgery nowadays is wound healing with scarring of the outflow area. By intensified postoperative care using antimetabolites at the time of surgery and during postoperative care, many problems of scar formation can be managed. The absolute success rate may be doubled by using intensified postoperative care. Non-penetrating surgery such as deep sclerectomy or trabeculotomy are effective; however, the amount of IOP lowering achieved is inferior to that of trabeculectomy. To select a special glaucoma surgical procedure, the individual target pressure for the respective patient has to be defined. Recent large randomised prospective studies have shown that a low target pressure is needed to preserve and stabilise the visual field in advanced cases. Glaucoma filtration surgery is an important mainstay of advanced glaucoma treatment.