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Trabeculectomy glaucoma surgery, has anyone had one?

Posted , 12 users are following.

beverlyh
beverlyh

I had a trabeculectomy surgery in July 2016.  MIGS have not yet been approved for use in my country.  I have had an up and down experience with this surgery and would be interested in discussing post Trabeculectomy surgery experiences with other people.  I have wide angle glaucoma.

1 like, 44 replies

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  • superberg
    superberg beverlyh

    Posted

    I wonder, has anyone ever had a bad outcome from a trabeculetomy?    My glaucoma specialist doesn't think I'll emotionally be able to handle it; (am caregiver to ill husband and my vision is failing with pressures from 10-15 -- true readings from a self tonometer -- i meaaure my pressures at home with a Reichert 7CR which takes into account corneal thickness so pressure readings can be more accurate than those given in dr's offices.)  My doctor tells me all the things that can wrong with a trabeculetomy, however, I only hear of good results.  Anyone who's had a bad result?  And if my low pressures now are 10, could going to 5 be worse?

  • jayceevee40
    jayceevee40 beverlyh

    Posted

    My hubby is legally blind and scheduled for trabeculectomy surgery May 16th, 2018 on his LEFT EYE due to intraocular pressure that we can’t get down with meds..I just watched the YouTube surgery as was curious about the bleb flap and how the procedure was actually performed.  For those that had the surgery, did you have to go back to the opthamologist daily for checks?  I know hubby goes the next day and depending on how he gets along may have to go regularly for a while.  Is there much pain?  Ralph has a CVRO in the left eye and BVRO in the right. He has Lucentis injections in the RIGHT eye each month and has for years.  Eyelea was tried a while back but it did nothing.  He also has an Ozurdex steroid implant every 3 months in the right eye. 

     

    • tracyjh
      tracyjh jayceevee40

      Posted

      Hi. I had a Trabeculectomy last July. I opted for the General anaesthetic and had no real pain afterwards just a bit of aching and tenderness. I had to go back the day after to have the dressing taken off. Then I went back weekly for about a month. Then fortnightly for another month. Then monthly for 3 months. Now I don't have to go again until July this year. I had a little build up if blood in my iris for a week or so after the op but this is not unusual apparently due to them having to lift the lens off your eye. It soon settled down. I don't have any real problem now apart from my eye feels tired a lot quicker. Hope it all goes well for you.

    • jayceevee40
      jayceevee40 tracyjh

      Posted

      Oh my, had forgotten that I had posted 2 months ago, my memory is getting so bad. Anyway, Ralph’s trab surgery in left eye went fine until he had a followup on Monday and his eye pressure in this eye was 33 so he had laser surgery today.  Eye is pretty sore right now what with all the pressing in the blep area.  Hoping that tomorrow when checked his pressure will have gone down.  He is a trooper and doesn’t complain much.  Hope you are doing fine also, hoping for better days ahead for dear hubby.
  • jayceevee40
    jayceevee40 beverlyh

    Posted

    I noticed that you had trab surgery (with blep) 2 years ago for wide angle glaucoma.  My dear hubby who is blind had this surgery last week on his left eye (he has open angle glaucoma) due to not being able to control pressure via eye meds.  After surgery, he was checked and pressure is highest ever at 33 so had to have laser surgery today.  I hope that you are coming along nicely after yours.  Hubby is 78 as am I and we have constant eye appoints for his CVRO in his left and BVRO in his right.  He received Lucentis injections in right eye monthly and Ozurdex steroid implant in right eye every 3 months so this eye issue is constant.
  • lisa99282
    lisa99282 beverlyh

    Posted

    I am following up on my year-old post as I have been receiving additional comments.  The original question focused on the trabeculectomy procedure.  My last post stated my trab was cancelled as the shape of my eye was deemed too narrow.  All previous treatments - multiple drops, laser surgery, cataract surgery - were met with minimal and un-sustained results in lowering pressure.  This has been going on for about 4 years.

    I've lost vision in the bottom half of my left eye.  Normally, it isn't so noticeable, but I do find I trip a lot!  Three weeks ago I had a Baerveldt shunt inserted to lower pressure.  This was determined to be a longer term solution (again I am 56 and trying save vision for as many years as possible).

    This has been extremely painful.  My vision seems to be returning to normal, but the swelling and pain is still impeding my vision.  The shunt "tube" will not be opened until this week so we won't know if the pressure lowers.  Good news is it did not increase after surgery which it often does just due to the eye manipulation and swelling.

    I'm going to transfer my posts to discussions of Baerveldt shunts.  The concept is similar to the trab procedure, but the surgery and subsequent response appears to be fairly different.

    Glaucoma is progressive and treatment is very specialized to eye shape, age of patient, response to other treatments, and energy of the patient to stay ahead of the problem.  Thanks the words of encouragement.  

     

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