Glaucoma Procedures
Drops aren’t the only way to lower eye pressure. We offer two laser treatments in our office, plus a medication implant and several types of glaucoma surgery done as outpatient procedures. Your doctor will recommend what fits your type of glaucoma, how far it’s progressed, and how it’s responded to treatment so far.
Questions about glaucoma treatment?
Call us to schedule a visit and our specialists will review your options with you.
In this Page
In-Office Laser Treatments
Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT)
SLT treats open-angle glaucoma, the most common type, by using a gentle laser to help fluid drain from the eye more easily.
Some patients choose SLT as a first treatment instead of drops, while others use it to cut back on drops they already take. The effect can fade over a few years, and the treatment can be repeated. Each session takes a few minutes, and most people return to their usual routine the next day.
Laser Peripheral Iridotomy (LPI)
LPI makes a tiny opening in the iris, the colored part of your eye, giving fluid another path to drain.
Doctors use it to treat angle-closure glaucoma, or to prevent it when an exam shows a narrow drainage angle. A narrow angle is usually found during a routine visit, often before you notice anything. LPI takes a few minutes per eye, and most people return to normal activities within a day.
Outpatient Procedures
Durysta®
Durysta® is a tiny implant that slowly releases glaucoma medication inside the eye over several months. For people with open-angle glaucoma or high eye pressure, it may reduce or replace daily drops for a while. The implant is placed with a quick injection after the eye is numbed.
Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)
MIGS improves the eye’s natural drainage through a very small incision. Your surgeon either places a tiny stent that holds the drain open or removes a small strip of the drainage tissue, a procedure called goniotomy. Most candidates have mild to moderate open-angle glaucoma, especially if drops are hard to keep up with or aren’t lowering pressure enough.
You go home the same day, and recovery is usually shorter than with traditional glaucoma surgery.
Cyclodiode Laser
Most glaucoma treatments help fluid drain out. Cyclodiode works the other way: a laser treats the part of the eye that makes the fluid, so the eye produces less of it. It’s usually reserved for glaucoma that’s harder to control, often after other treatments haven’t lowered pressure enough. Some patients need more than one session.
Tube Shunt Surgery
A tube shunt is a small drainage device placed in the eye. A thin tube carries fluid out to a small plate under the surface of the eye, where it’s absorbed.
Tube shunts are used for moderate to advanced glaucoma, or when other treatments or surgeries haven’t controlled pressure. They lower pressure more than MIGS, but recovery takes longer, usually several weeks with more follow-up visits. You still go home the same day.
Not sure which option fits you?
Call to book a consultation. Our specialists will review your treatment history and walk you through what makes sense.
