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 year follow-up was available for 70 eyes with PT and 54 with TA (77% of all eyes). 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 difference between PT and TA at 1 year was nonsignificant (p > 0.1). The average number 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 phacoemulsification does not influence intraocular pressure control at 1 years. Copyright 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel