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PURPOSE: To provide an update of the short-term results of combined phacoemulsification and trabeculotomy by the internal approach with a follow-up to 21 months. SETTING: Universities and private practices in the United States. METHODS: This prospective interventional case series comprised 304 consecutive eyes with open-angle glaucoma and cataract having combined phacoemulsification and trabeculotomy with a Trabectome (NeoMedix Inc.). The Trabectome is designed to open a direct pathway for aqueous to flow from the anterior chamber into Schlemm canal collector channels. Under gonioscopic control, bipolar cautery was applied by a purpose-designed footplate to ablate the trabecular meshwork and inner wall of Schlemm canal. The main outcome measures were intraocular pressure (IOP), glaucoma medication use, and complications. RESULTS: The mean IOP was 20.0 mmHg ± 6.3 (SD) preoperatively, 14.8 ± 3.5 mmHg at 6 months, and 15.5 ± 2.9 mmHg at 1 year. There was a corresponding drop in glaucoma medications from 2.65 ± 1.13 at baseline to 1.76 ± 1.25 at 6 months and 1.44 ± 1.29 at 1 year. Subsequent secondary glaucoma procedures were performed in 9 patients. The only frequent complication, blood reflux in 239 patients (78.4%), resolved within a few days. CONCLUSIONS: Combined phacoemulsification and trabeculotomy by the internal approach using the Trabectome lowered IOP and medication use in the majority of patients. Complications were minimal and comparable to those in an earlier series of Trabectome-only procedures.
Dr. B.A. Francis, Doheny Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine, and Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90093, USA. bfrancis@doheny.org
12.14.3 Phacoemulsification (Part of: 12 Surgical treatment > 12.14 Combined cataract extraction and glaucoma surgery)