"Scleral tunnel incision" - trabeculectomy with one releasable suture

Purpose: To describe a modified surgical technique, a scleral tunnel incisi on-trabeculectomy (STIT) and evaluate its safety and efficacy in lowering I OP in glaucoma patients, Methods: One hundred and three patients were included in a retrospective, n onrandomized clinical study. Fifty-three patients were operated conventiona lly and 40 patients underwent STIT. in the modified technique the sides of the scleral flap are opened only half-way to the limbus and the flap is clo sed with a single releasable "slipknot"-suture. Results: The mean IOP on the first postoperative day was 4.5 +/- 6.8 mmHg i n the conventional group and 7.4 +/- 7.1 mmHg in the tunnel incision group (p 0.012). On the second postoperative day the mean TOP was 4.5 +/- 7.3 mmH g and 5.3 +/- 6.5 mmHg in the conventional group and tunnel incision group, respectively (p = 0.065), There was no statistically significant differenc e in the mean postoperative IOP between the groups at one month and at 6-12 months. Shallow anterior chamber and iridocorneal touch occurred statistic ally significantly less in the tunnel incision group than in the convention al group. Conclusion: STIT appears to be equivalent to conventional trabeculectomy (C T) in lowering IOP during the first 6-12 months postoperatively. It is also relatively safe and has fewer early complications related to excessive aqu eous outflow than CT.