Laser Surgery for Glaucoma Delivers Benefits Over Conventional Treatments

Glaucoma is a disease of the eye that people often know little about. Caused by increased pressure due to fluid buildup, it results in vision loss. Left untreated, it can lead to blindness. Now there’s a better way to treat glaucoma than with medications.

“Everyone produces fluid in the eye,” said Dr. Bret Hughes, a glaucoma specialist at the Kresge Eye Institute and assistant professor of ophthalmology at Wayne State University. “But if you cannot drain the fluid effectively it builds up in the eye, which causes pressure and damages the internal structure of the eye – mainly the optic nerve.”

The conventional way to treat glaucoma is the use of topical eye drops. “Some drops help to slow down the production of fluid, and some drops increase the drainage of fluid,” said Dr. Hughes. “But we have found that patients who use three or four medications to control their glaucoma have trouble coordinating their use.”

So Dr. Hughes urges patients to consider in-office laser surgery to reduce the pressure caused by glaucoma. The technical term for the treatment is selective laser trabeculoplasty or SLT. It targets only specific cells of the eye – those with the natural pigment melanin – so that surrounding tissues are left intact.

According to Joan Anderson, who was diagnosed with glaucoma in her left eye, “When you have the procedure you see a flash of light, and you feel a little tingle in the eye. But that’s it. That’s all,” she said.

SLT yields the following benefits for those suffering from glaucoma:

Dr. Hughes is quick to point out that early detection is the key to success in treating glaucoma. “Patients often don’t know that they have glaucoma until they get an examination or until the final stage of the disease,” he said. “We would, of course, prefer to detect it before the patient does.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment at any DMC facility, call 1- 888- DMC- 2500.