[An experimental and clinical validation of diathermal goniopuncture ab interno]

A method of ab interno diathermogoniopuncture has been developed consisting in introducing the tip of a single-pole diathermocoagulator combined with an irrigation system through an incision in the limbus for 12 h and subsequent perforation of trabecula and sclera in the inferior portion. Histologic examinations of rabbit eyes demonstrated that the wound channel formed as a result of surgical intervention in the thickness of the sclera exists for up to 1 month provided destructive changes in the adjacent sclera are moderately expressed. Clinically intraocular pressure directly after surgery normalized in 52 of 60 eyes (86%); this effect persisted for up to 2 years in 73% of the operated on patients, in some of them additional drug therapy was needed.