Viscocanalostomy and combined phacoemulsification with viscocanalostomy: A five-year follow-up

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness and safety of viscocanalostomy (VC) and phaco-viscocanalostomy (PV) surgeries in eyes with a five-year follow-up. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients who underwent VC and PV between January 2010 and December 2012 in the Stanley Eye Unit Abergele, UK. Patients were included for the analysis if they had a full 5-year follow-up or required redo surgery in the 5-year period. Success was defined as an intraocular pressure (IOP) of <21 mmHg. The subanalysis included IOP <16 mmHg, IOP reduction >20%, and IOP reduction >30%, the complication rate, and the drop in the use of glaucoma medications post-surgery. RESULTS: A total of 370 eyes from 303 patients were included for the analysis. The mean preoperative IOP was 23 mmHg ± 5.3 mmHg with an average of 3.0 ± 0.1 medications. By year 5, this was reduced to 14.3 mmHg ± 6.5 mmHg with a mean of 1.0+/- 0.9 medications; 47.8% of the eyes had an IOP of <21 mmHg by year 5 without medication with a total of 92.6% of the eyes reaching this target with medication. The main complication in this group was the perforation of the Trabeculo Descemet’s Window (TDW) but this was not associated with a poorer outcome. CONCLUSION: This large data set of eyes undergoing VC surgery demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of this technique over 5 years.