When a patient with glaucoma who has a pressure that is too high and causing damage to their
vision, despite receiving the maximum amount of medication that can be tolerated, the
decision is made to have glaucoma surgery. Trabeculectomy is the most common form of glaucoma
surgery used to treat open angle glaucoma. During trabeculectomy, an opening is created in
the eye and partially covered with a flap of tissue. This new opening allows fluid to drain
out of the eye bypassing the clogged drainage channels that are malfunctioning in patients
with glaucoma. Studies have found that trabeculectomy significantly reduces vision loss and
lowers eye pressure.
However, many people need another trabeculectomy or other glaucoma surgery because the
surgery may fail either early or much later because the body closes the drain created by the
surgeon. The surgery is also less likely to work in patients with darker pigmentation,
children who have congenital glaucoma, people with difficult to control glaucoma with new
blood vessels growing on the iris, diabetes or persons with prior eye surgery. As a result,
the investigators need to find ways to improve the longterm survival of trabeculectomy
surgery in all patients.