Clinical Significance of Removable Scleral-flap Suture During Trabeculectomy

Objective To evaluate the effect of removable scleral-flap suture during trabeculectomy in treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma. Methods Seventy-nine patients(91 eyes) with primary angle-closure Glaucoma from May, 2000 to May, 2002 in our hospital were accepted trabeculectomy initially, and were randomly divided into two groups. The first group (39 patients,48 eyes) received standard trabeculectomy; the second group(40 patients, 43 eyes) received the trabeculectomy with removable scleral-flap suture, and the sclera suture would be removed according to the intraocular pressure, the condition of the anterior chamber and the filtrative cyst. The intraocular pressure, the filtrative cyst ,the anterior chamber and the visual acuity of both groups were tested during the second day, the first week, the first one month, the third month, and one year after the operation. Results Both metheds can control the intraoclar pressure effectively. The incidences of adverse reactions in the second group was lesser than the first group, such as shallow anterior chamber, intraocular hypopressure, hemorrhage in the anterior chamber (hyphema), detachment of choroids and hypotonous maculopathy and the difference showed statistical significance (P0.025). Conclusion The effects of controlling intraocular pressure by both methods are similar; during the early postoperative stage, the trabeculectomy with removable scleral-flap suture can effectively minimize the complications, however, such as shallow anterior chamber and intraocular hypotension, which can enhance the safety of trabeculectomy.