There’s a new procedure for patients who need surgery to treat glaucoma, and it’s available right here. It’s much less invasive and has a quicker recovery time.
“I was holding everything out as far as I could reach.”
Ken Lloyd thought he needed glasses; his eye doctor had other ideas.
“The first thing he did was to prod test, and he says ‘who among your family has glaucoma?’ and I said, ‘what is glaucoma?’ And that was the start.”
When drops didn’t work to keep the pressure down on his left eye, Ken has traditional surgery, years later, when it came time to do the other eye, Dr. Howard Barnebey took a newer less invasive approach.
“It’s angioplasty for the eye.”
The technical name is canaloplasty. A tiny catheter is inserted thru a flap under the iris and navigates around the eyes natural drainage canal to unblock it.
“We need a small catheter which is ten to fifteen times smaller than the catheter we use to do cardio angioplasty.
“And the right eye which had the canaloplasty done, I’ve taken no drops whatsoever and the pressure; it’s the lowest that’s ever been.”
The traditional surgery release patients with blurred vision for four to six weeks.
“With the newer canaloplasty, we’re seeing patients controlled and being able to be up on their feet within 1 to 3 weeks, so much better recovery. The results of the canaloplasty are actually better than the trabeculectomy in the other eye.”
Although canaloplasty is not a cure for glaucoma, it will prevent Ken’s vision from getting any worse.
“A big relief, nobody wants to go blind.”
To be eligible for canaloplasty, you have to have open angle glaucoma which is the most common kind and you cannot have had previous glaucoma surgery in that eye.
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