Evaluation of phacotrabeculectomy versus trabeculectomy alone

Our purpose was to evaluate phacotrabeculectomy (PT) versus trabeculectomy alone (TA). 161 eyes with primary open angle or pseudoexfoliative glaucoma operated on consecutively by one surgeon were followed prospectively. 1 yea r follow-up was available for 70 eyes with PT and 54 with TA (77% of all ey es). Intraocular pressure (IOP) in PT dropped from 23.4 +/- 8.9 to 13.3 +/- 3.4 mm Hg and in TA from 24.8 +/- 7.5 to 14.2 +/- 3.9 mm Hg. IOP differenc e between PT and TA at 1 year was nonsignificant (p > 0.1). The average num ber of medications in PT dropped from 1.9 +/- 0.9 to 0.1 +/- 0.5 and in TA from 2.2 +/- 0.9 to 0.3 +/- 0.6 (p > 0.1). We conclude that additional phac oemulsification does not influence intraocular pressure control at 1 years. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.