Glaucoma Laser Surgery Procedure

Laser iridotomy and laser iridoplasty are used to treat angle closure glaucoma or narrow angles.

Glaucoma laser surgery procedure.

During laser surgery a focused beam of light is used to treat the eye s trabecular meshwork the eye s drainage system. Laser treatment or trabeculoplasty is a simple procedure to treat glaucoma that your eye doctor can do in the office. Long term benefits of glaucoma laser surgery. This causes the fluid in the eye to build up increasing iop and damaging the optic nerve.

Your doctor may treat half of the clogs first see how. This helps increase the flow of fluid out of the eye. Doctors often recommend laser surgery before incisional surgery unless the eye pressure is very high or the optic nerve is badly damaged. Safer procedures on the horizon.

Find out whether you need laser treatment how it works and what happens afterward. Here are some types of laser surgery for glaucoma. Glaucoma laser surgeries help to lower the intraocular pressure iop in the eye. Though the reduction in eye pressure from slt may not be permanent the procedure can often be safely repeated if needed.

Glaucoma laser surgery is usually done at a doctor s office or outpatient surgery clinic. Your eyes may feel itchy or gritty and swollen but these feelings should go away in 1 or 2 days. In yag cp laser surgery a local anesthetic is used to numb the 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. Selective laser trabeculoplasty or slt is a form of laser surgery that is used to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma. You may be sensitive to light and have slightly blurred vision as your eyes. Once the eye has been numbed there should be little or no pain and discomfort.

You should be able to see right after the surgery. 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. It works by using a laser to help the fluid in your eye drain away which can help lower the pressure in your eye. However for some glaucoma surgeries it is better to perform the glaucoma surgery alone and address the cataract later in a second operation.

The cost for an uninsured individual or with an insurance co pay will vary. Argon laser trabeculoplasty alt. One or both eyes may be done. 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.