Cataract Surgery prior to Glaucoma Surgery

We know that this patient will be undergoing glaucoma surgery in the near future and you are doing the cataract surgery now — what will you do differently? Due to the nature and severity of the glaucoma, this patient is scheduled for an upcoming trabeculectomy with a glaucoma specialist. Doing a MIGS procedure (minimally-invasive glaucoma surgery) at the same time as the cataract surgery would not likely be sufficient to control the glaucoma issues.

You want to do a cataract surgery that will not pose any issues with that. Here are four critical cataract surgery steps which I recommend prior to the glaucoma surgery.

  1. use a smaller incision and be sure to nick limbal vessels to ensure strong healing
  2. make a smaller capsulorhexis to ensure that the IOL does not come out of the capsular bag even if the anterior chamber goes completely flat
  3. use the wound-assist for the IOL delivery to keep the incision small
  4. keep the IOP lower and make sure to remove all viscoelastic to avoid a pressure spike

click below to learn these critical steps in preparation for glaucoma surgery:

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