What are the new options for glaucoma surgery?

Surgical options for glaucoma has a variety of forms, it’s a very very big surgery. But we also recognise that there are smaller operations we can do that can help. And in particular cataract surgery, so cataract surgery is very good for dropping the pressure. And we have this concept now of cataract plus surgery for patients with glaucoma.

So I really want to offer bespoke operation for patients who have both glaucoma and cataract. So we can either do a laser treatment inside the eye, which will reduce the amount of fluid the eye produces or we can put some of these newer microstates into your existing drainage channels. And what that does is it encourages them to drain a little bit better. It doesn’t take very much more time on top of doing the cataract operation itself in order to put these stents in.

And there are varieties of them. The one that I use is something called an eye stent. It’s the smallest implant that is put into the human body and it sits in the drainage channel like a little snorkel tube and it allows the fluid to drain away a little bit more easily because it holds the drainage pathway open.

There are newer stents coming onto the market so we recognise that this is something that’s a medium-sized operation for people, so there are newer stents coming onto the market and as a glaucoma surgeon, we usually get to try these stents out early which means that there’s something new that is good for you.

And I will be able to discuss that with you and offer it to you whenever it becomes available. And similarly, if there’s something that we think is really not good, not worthwhile, then I can advise you on that as well.

More about Laura Crawley

Ms Laura Crawley is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Clinica London, Imperial College Western Eye Hospital, and The London Clinic. Her special expertise is in treating glaucoma patients as well as patients with glaucoma and cataracts. She has a lot of experience in treating glaucoma and has published extensively in scientific journals and on medical education. She still does a lot of emergency operations at the emergency department at the Charing Cross and Western Eye Hospitals for the NHS. At Clinica London, she is responsible for glaucoma patients and glaucoma patients with cataracts. She also sees patients with general eye problems.