Does Glaucoma Affect My Suitability for Laser Eye Surgery?
Laser Eye Surgery is noe suitable for more people than ever before. But it’s important to remember that there are factors outside the severity of your prescription that can affect your eligibility for treatment. So, whay if you have glaucoma? Could you still be suitable for Laser Eye Surgery?
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions that cause damage to the optic nerve at the back of the eye. This damage can lead to irreversible vision loss and even blindness if left untreated. It is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting around 3.5% of the global population aged 40-80 and 10% of people aged over 75 in the UK.
There are two main types of glaucoma:
- Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG): The most common form of glaucoma, POAG is a progressive disease that develops slowly. It is often symptomless in the early stages, which can make it difficult to diagnose. As the disease progresses, it usually affects peripheral vision, followed later by central vision.
- Approximately 90% of cases are open-angle. It is painless and does not trigger acute attacks. The only signs are gradually progressive visual field loss as the optic nerve changes.
- Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG): Despite being a much less common form of glaucoma, PACG accounts for half of glaucoma-related blindness cases worldwide. In the majority of cases, it is caused by a blockage in the eye’s drainage system.
- Approximately 10% of cases are closed-cases. Typical symptoms include eye pain, impaired visual acuity, halos around lights, semi-dilated and pixed pupil, nausea, headache, and vomiting (caused by pain).
The risk of developing glaucoma increases with age. Other risk factors include family history and genetic factors.
A key factor of glaucoma is heightened intraocular pressure (IOP), although this is not always the case. Ocular hypertension (where there is consistently or recurrently elevated IOP but with no signs of glaucoma) often leads to the development of glaucoma. The risk of this progression may depend on the severity of the IOP, corneal thickness, and age.
Diagnosing Glaucoma
Most diagnoses of glaucoma are made during routine eye test – often before any symptoms become apparent. This highlights the importance of having regular eye tests, as early detection of glaucoma aids timely treatment, which may help to significantly slow down the progression of the disease and prevent lasting vision loss.
It is advised that every one has an eye test at least once every two years. Some people, including those who have a family member with glaucoma, will be advised to get their eyes tested more often.
Treating Glaucoma
Treatments for glaucoma are aimed at slowing disease progression and minimising any potential damage to the optic nerve and resulting vision loss. Common treatment approaches include:
- Eye drops/medicine:
- In open-angle glaucoma, eye drops work by increasing the drainage of fluid from the eye, or by reducing the amount of fluid secreted into the eye.
- In angle closure glaucoma, eye drops may also be used, in addition to medications to reduce intraocular pressure. This may include oral medications to reduce the production of aqueous humour (the fluid in the front of the eye).
- Surgery: In some cases, patients may be offered a trabeculectomy, a surgical procedure that creates a trap door for fluid to pass through, bypassing the normal drainage channel. This allows aqueous to drain out of the eye and into a small blister hidden under the upper eyelid, reducing intraocular pressure.
- Laser treatment: Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) and argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) are laser procedures that can be used to treat open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. They involve opening up the drainage channel in the eye so that fluid can drain out more easily.
Can I have Laser Eye Surgery if I have glaucoma?
Are you interested in Laser Eye Surgery to correct your refractive error, whether you have lived with myopia (short-sightedness), hyperopia (long-sightedness), and/or astigmatism for years, or you have recently begun to notice the effects of ageing (presbyopia), but are worried about how glaucoma could affect your suitability?
Well, you may not need to be.
Glaucoma in itself is not a contraindication for Laser Eye Surgery. That means that being diagnosed with glaucoma won’t automatically mean you can’t go ahead with Laser Eye Surgery; however, this is decided on a case-by-case basis. Your suitability can be affected by intraocular pressure, as well as a range of other factors.
We make our decision on Laser Eye Surgery suitability based on a wide range of considerations and the data we gather during our comprehensive screening program. This will allow us to determine the extent of your glaucoma. As glaucoma can continue to cause damage to your vision after Laser Eye Surgery, this also allows us to weigh up the benefits you can truly expect to achieve before you decided to go ahead with treatment.
For more information regarding suitability for Laser Eye Surgery, get in touch with one of our friendly clinic coordinators today. Alternatively, Book a Consultation today to kickstart the process!
