Moorfields Eye Hospital has announced that it will be offering a new treatment procedure for patients undergoing cataract surgery for glaucoma which will result in faster surgery and healing times.
The new trabectome procedure is only minimally invasive and reduces the need for frequent daily dosages of eye drops. It is carried out under local anaesthetic and takes between 10-15 minutes to perform.
The procedure has been widely used in the United States, but Moorfields is one of the first hospitals in the UK to introduce it.
Gus Gazzard (pictured), consultant ophthalmologist and clinical director for Moorfields South, said: “[The trabectome procedure] has a number of benefits for the NHS and patients, including a reduction in drug use and fewer of the major operations such as trabeculectomy which overall will save the NHS money in the long run.
“Trabectome procedures are undertaken in the early course of the disease to delay the need for more major surgery. All glaucoma patients on eye drops would potentially be eligible for this treatment although we will initially concentrate on those who need cataract surgery with which this procedure will be combined.”
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