Trabeculectomy: a retrospective long-term follow-up of 444 cases.

The results of the surgical procedure of trabeculectomy, as performed by the staff of the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital from 1974 to 1979 inclusive on 356 patients (444 eyes) are presented, with particular emphasis not only on intraocular pressure control but on operative and postoperative long-term complications. Its position in the surgical treatment of glaucoma is confirmed, but the attendant surgical and long-term side effects associated with trabeculectomy appear to be more widespread and problematical than previous reports would suggest.