Sutureless tunnel trabeculectomy without peripheral iridectomy: a new modification of the conventional trabeculectomy

The purpose of this study was to describe the results of a new modification of the trabeculectomy technique, sutureless tunnel trabeculectomy without peripheral iridectomy (PI), in a group of patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma (COAG). Patients with uncontrolled COAG who were candidates for trabeculectomy underwent sutureless tunnel trabeculectomy without PI. Patients were examined before surgery and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Pre- and post-operative data including intraocular pressure (IOP), visual acuity, number of anti-glaucoma medications and intraoperative and post-operative complications were recorded. Surgical success was defined as final IOP < 21 mmHg and > 20 % reduction from baseline (criterion A) and as final IOP < 18 mmHg and > 25 % reduction from baseline (criterion B), without further glaucoma surgery or complications that required returning the patient to the operating room. Success was further classified as complete when these criteria were obtained without medications and qualified with or without medical therapy. Eighteen eyes of 18 patients were recruited into the study. All patients had 6 months of follow-up and 15 patients (83.3 %) completed 12 months of follow-up. Mean (SD) age of the patients was 57.2 (5.7) years. Mean (SD) IOP decreased from 23.7 (4.5) mmHg pre-operatively to 14.7 (3.4) mmHg at final follow-up visit (p < 0.001), and the mean (SD) number of glaucoma medications decreased from 2.89 (0.32) pre-operatively to 1 (0.84) at last visit (p < 0.001). Post-operatively, IOP and number of glaucoma medications were decreased in comparison with baseline at all follow-up visits (p < 0.001 for all visits). Qualified and complete surgical success rates were 78 and 50 % for criterion A, and 72 and 50 % for criterion B. Sutureless tunnel trabeculectomy without PI effectively reduced IOP and number of medications in COAG patients during 6-12 months of follow-up. Further controlled studies are needed to better characterize the safety and efficacy of this technique.