[Trabeculectomy with mitomycin C and Ologen® implant in comparison to classical trabeculectomy]

Trabeculectomy (TE) with mitomycin C (MMC) is considered the gold standard in glaucoma surgery. A new modification is the use of an Ologen® implant (AEON Astron Europe B.V., Leiden, Netherlands) during TE, which was analyzed and compared to the standard TE in this retrospective study.

On 70 eyes Ologen® was applied during surgery (group 2), whereas 98 eyes were operated on without the implant (group 1). Both surgical procedures were compared regarding the efficiency of lowering the intraocular pressure (IOP), the number of glaucoma medications, the rate of complications and follow-up treatment. Data were collected up to 24 months after surgery.

In group 1 the IOP was lowered from 28.0 mmHg (95% confidence interval, CI 26.6-29.4 mmHg) to 16.0 mmHg (14.0-18.1) after 24 months. In group 2, the pressure dropped from 28.5 mmHg (26.8-30.1) to 14.3 mmHg (11.7-17.0). The IOP reduction was significant in both groups (p < 0.001), there was no significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05). Glaucoma-related follow-up treatments were performed more often in group 1 but the difference was not significant.

Both procedures significantly lower the IOP and the number of glaucoma medications. For our cases, TE with Ologen® and MMC is considered to be superior to TE with MMC regarding the lower rates of follow-up treatments as it is less time-consuming for the patients and the clinic.