Hi, My aged mother has been diagnosed glaucoma for some years now and we have been giving her prescribed medications. Instead of improvement, her eyes is closing further that its difficult for her to see. Please can surgery be of help? and where? presently she is in Nigeria. kindly help its urgent. Thanks
A 1- Response from Online-eye-info/Glaucoma Resistant to Medications
by Online Eye Info
Thanks for your Question
Anti glaucoma eye drops are not used to improve the condition, they are used to stabilized the intraocular pressure and vision. With treatment, the intraocular pressure should be below 17 mmHg. Resistant glaucoma to medications means that the intraocular pressure can't be reached below 21 with full anti glaucoma medications and in this case intraocular pressure should be reduced with surgical procedures.
In case the intraocular pressure is below 17 and the vision still deteriorate, the eye doctor can:
1- Add more eye drops for glaucoma to reduce the pressure further more.
2- Look for other causes of blurred vision such as cataract, retinal diseases and so on.
3- Order visual tests such as visual field and OCT. These tests can help to find other causes of blurred vision.
4- Glaucoma surgeries such as the old fashioned surgeries ( Trabeculectomy and drianage shunt ) and the new less invasive procedures (Trabectome and Canaloplasty )can be an option to glaucoma that is resistant to medications.
5- Neuroprotection drugs can be used with other anti glaucoma medications to protect the optic nerve oxidation and prevent death of nerve fibers.
You should discuss these options with your eye doctor
