I’ve read numerous posts from people who have had eye surgery and in particular trabeculectomy surgery who have experienced so many post operative complications and also needing further surgery.
My glaucoma consultant has advised me to have surgery but I’m undecided?
Has anyone had a successful outcome following their surgery, I would very much appreciate hearing from you.
Many thanks
Hi Odta , I have actually had a trab in each eye ,one 15 months ago and one only 5 weeks ago and I can honestly say it's the best choice I ever made for my eyes. I am now drop free with eye pressure of 14/15 which is perfect for me .It is a terrifying thought I know but the operation itself isn't nearly as bad as you imagine
As with any surgical procedure there can be complications and mine wasn't without issues which my consultant dealt with successfully.After my first trab I was healing too quickly but ocular massage remedied that problem and this time my pressure dropped to 2 the day after my op and I really could see very little but as my consultant explained as I healed the pressure would rise and my vision return and it did.
The op itself lasts about an hour, you are covered in a sterile drape,so although you are aware your eye is being operated on you can see nothing,you also are given numbing drops so you feel no pain.
The pressure in my eyes was not being controlled by drops and I had already lost vision due to late diagnosis by previous opticians so for me it was an easy but scary decision to make.
Glaucoma UK have a buddy system where you can actually talk to someone who has had a trab,all you need to do is call their helpline and they will arrange it for you .
If you have any other questions I am more than happy to answer them,or you just need support going through the process .
Take Care x
Thank you very much for your prompt response and reassuring advice, it really helps with decision making.
Hi Odta! At my last hospital appointment it has also been recommended I have a Trab in one eye so I will be interested to read the replies to your question! Like Witchie I had already lost vision at time of diagnosis (missed by an optician) and currently my glaucoma is progressing regardless of treatment tried to date (numerous drop combinations and SLT), so I feel this is probably an essential-if somewhat scary- option in my case, so not sure I have much option. I’m 58 so I really need to slow down or hopefully just stop progress.
I’m in a very similar situation, my consultant suggested the surgery a few years ago but I immediately dismissed the advice mainly due to fear and continued with drops. However, like yourself I have lost quite a bit of vision and feel I must save as much of my sight as possible. Good luck.
Odta, you never know, we may end up having a trab at the same time this year, so we can metaphorically hold hands and go through it together. I’ll also be depending on the lovely peeps on the forum who’ve had a trab already to help me through any collywobbles I might have in the process. I think there’s a couple of other people due for a trab this year too so they’ll be a whole gang of us! 🙂
Thank you , you may be right, very reassuring. You won’t be alone having collywobbles, I’ll be right behind you. Good luck
Hi Odta.I had a trab about nine years ago and like Witchie I initially had a couple of issues, a drop in pressure to four being the first but which resolved itself after a couple of weeks, the second was that the trab itself brought on a cataract but that was successfully operated on a few weeks after the pressure had risen. I can understand your worries at the thought of having your eye operated on and the possibility of problems afterwards but looking back I don’t know where I would be now if I hadn’t had it done. My pressures were rising, the drops were not working and to me there was no option. Almost ten years on and my sight is almost as good as when I had it done and at seventy three I still drive, having just recently passed my DVLA test for another three years so the benefit to me of having it done was definitely positive.
Fear was my biggest worry but once I learnt to put faith in my consultant I found it easier to make the decision. Good luck.
Thank you for your advice, it’s very reassuring to hear a positive outcome. As you said fear is a big worry, but I will take your advice and put my faith in my consultant. Thank you
Hi Odta
The trabeculectomy operation is a very good operation. Many people call the Helpline saying their op failed. It isn't usually the case. We are all different and even two eyes in the same head do not necessarily react the same . Fine tweaking following the operation can sometimes be necessary. Naturally, this can only be tweaked once the operation has been done and an eye pressure measurement is taken to see if your pressure has lowered to the target pressure, your eye specialist wanted.
Sometimes, the eye pressure may not reduce enough or sometimes too much, as Witchie346 kindly explained and there are things you can do for both.
Witchie346 also rightly mentioned our Buddy Service, where people have had certain laser procedures, or operations for glaucoma and are more than happy to talk to you about it and answer any of your questions about their experience. If you feel this would be something you would like to do, call our Helpline 01233 64 81 70.
Thank you Helen I think the Buddy Service would be very beneficial .
I've had trabs in both eyes, 2018 and 2019. The first went well and pressure is settled at 12. The second not so well and hovered at 24 for a while. I change my diet and it came down to 18 but has since crept up to 23. I've been scheduled for needling to see if it can be brought down further.
Both eyes had peeked at 50+ at times, so I'd say the ops have been worthwhile.
My goodness I’m surprised to read your pressure was so high. You obviously benefited a great deal from having the surgery. Good luck with the needling and thank you for taking the time to write.
I’m another person who’s had trabs in both eyes. The first, done in 2015, was without complications and worked for a while. I’m now back on drops in that eye but since a trab in my other eye the pressure in the first one has come down. (There is current research on the interaction between eyes in terms of pressure). There were complications after the second op, including a cataract as mentioned previously, but now the pressure is down around 12, no drops in that eye and I passed my DVLA test. In my opinion any procedure which halts or just slows down deterioration is worth having done.
Thank you for you advice
I had trab in left eye 14 months ago which was losing vision quickly. The op is disconcerting but painless. I was back and forth to the hospital for several months as the eye was healing too fast. The NHS care was outstanding. Other eye currently stable with 2 x sets of drops morning and evening and one set of drops in both eyes at night. The deterioration of left eye seems to have slowed but is still getting worse so awaiting to see what if an next steps are. I passed the DVLA driving test last Feb (but put on a 1 year Licence) - just done this years test which did not seem to go well - awaiting results. My view is if you trust your consultant then follow their advice - so much is not understood about this disease that I feel you have to rely on their experience ... good luck
Thank you that’s very good advice. Trust!
Hi Odta, I am scheduled for unilateral glaucoma surgery in March . I too have had laser surgery (X2) and topical drops but my numbers remain stubbornly high. So, like all of you, the decision was not whether to have surgery but which one. There are two broad categories of by pass surgery. External, where the aqueous fluid is brought to the surface of the eye (eg trabeculectomy, xen gel stent etc) or internal, where the fluid is diverted into an artificial drain ( eg Hydrus stent, Omni Stent etc). This is usually done in combination with cataract surgery. Because I have minor cataracts and because I was hesitant to have an external drain, I have elected to have cataract surgery with an internal Hydrus shunt. I shall let you all know how this worked.
Hi Jonsglaucoma, I had a right eye cataract and Hydrus added early October last year, I’m 53 and it bought my pressure down from 23 to 16 so far with the last reading 9 weeks post op but I already have an I-stent in that eye. Good Luck with your surgery x
Thank you for taking the time to write, good luck
Thank you for your reply, wishing you all the very best for your forthcoming surgery
I had mine 5 years ago and have benefited immensely..
Great outcome for you, thank you for replying
Yes, very successful. Pressures down from 19 to 12. Still take drops night and morning, but sight good... that is my better eye. It is important to act in time... by the time we acted with the 1st eye had lost a lot of visual field. Luckily, near the nose, so good eye can cover for driving. If it's time, get on with it... you are lucky to get theatre-time these days.
Thank you for your reassurance, I’m very pleased to hear you’re pressure has lowered
Hi Odta
I'm due to have trabeculectomy in about a month.
It's been interesting to read everyone's comments.
Last year I had a stent put in as the ophthalmologist wanted to avoid trab. But here we are 1 year later. The stent stopped working because my eye healed and blocked it.
So it's a trab after all.
Good luck with your forthcoming surgery, I don’t have a date for mine yet but my consultant assured me it would be soon. Mind you, when I saw him in September he told me it would be by the end of the year. Maybe I should have asked which year! Anyway, best wishes for your surgery. Do let us all know how you get on.
Hello Odta,
My names Colin i'm 29 and i currently reside in Australia.
a few years back i had random extreme spikes in eye pressure, i think it used to hit the 40's in the left eye. The pantomimist said it it spikes again use Combigan to lower the pressure.
a few weeks later it would happen again at even higher pressure he rushed me to the eye hospital where they diagnosed me with Uveitis Glaucoma. They told me i needed to do surgery as it was very serious and had already burnt most of the nerves in my left eye from the random spikes of eye pressure. They told me i had to do trabeculectomy surgery, they informed me the pressure would never go high again and i wouldn't need to use any eye drops in the long term. i thought it was to good to be true so i got it done 2 week later.
i woke up post opp and told them i couldn't see through my left eye it was extremely blurry.
they told me it would clear up after some weeks and maybe months in bad cases.
4 years later unfortunately my vision never returned my eye stayed blurry.
I'm also on prednefrin forte eye drops once a day in the left eye for the rest of my life as my eye gets inflamed every 24 hours. I'm also on Virgan eye ointment once a day. (Eye is forming cataracts from the prednefrin forte regular usage as well)
Post opp i also got a droopy eye lid after surgery (Ptosis) . They said don't worry we will fix the Ptosis, i had surgery and 7 months later it started to droop again.
I wish i never did the surgery, i would have still had clear vision, no droopy eye lid and no regular medication, but hey that's life and sometimes things don't always go according to plan, we just need to stay positive.
Hi Colin-F. Having read through your story it sounds like you have had a really rough time. I just wanted to share something with you. I had surgery earlier this year and developed Ptosis gradually in the weeks after. When I was eventually taken off the prednisolone drops my eye lid returned to normal. Could your Prednefrin be causing your problem with Ptosis?
Good Morning, That could be a possibility, he surgeons tried to get me off the Prednefrin Forte but by the end of the day my eye would swell up very bad. Post opp i had ptosis surgery, and i think where the doctors did the cut the skin underneath my eye lid is rough, the rough skin is scraping the bleb as I blink throughout the day and im assuming thats causing the eye to swell by the end of the day. Today im starting my HyloFresh eye lubricator, im going to apply it 5 times a day to see if the lubricant will protect by (Bleb) from getting irritated, hopefully by 4pm when its time to put the Prednefrin forte in by eye isn't swollen and doesnt require the drop. Ill keep you updated.
thankyou.
Hi. Dry eyes can definitely be a problem after surgery. I now have a whole new routine because part of my problem is meibomian gland disfunction. I wash my eyes gently every night with a mild face wash, use a heated eye mask each morning, wear wrap-around sunglasses when outside on hot or windy days, take an omega 3 supplement, and apply dry eye drops regularly during the day. I use Hyloforte, it is more viscous that Hylofresh. I hope you are able to find a way to help your eye settle. good luck!
Hello, I really appreciate your feedback anything is helpful at this point and I hope your managing your eye condition well!
Have you had the trabeculectomy surgery as well ?
I applied the hylofresh eye drops today in the left eye and I’ve had a very bad migraine all day, every time I applied the drop the the left eye my headache for worse. It’s now 7pm (I didn’t insert my prednefrin forte drop at 4pm like I usually do, my eyes gone very red and my eye lids dropped a bit more and I have a bad migraine currently in bed throng to figure out if I should just put the prednefrin forte in and try again to tomorrow.
Hi. I really think you should discuss changes to your prescription medication with your Dr before you stop taking it. Doing all you can to mitigate any dry eye symptoms may mean your eye is less sore by the end of the day, but this could take time to have an effect. I cannot comment on any link between the Hylofresh and migraine. I have always found my Hyloforte drops to be very innocuous, but I have had problems with sore eyes from other dry-eye treatments. Ask your pharmacist to recommend other dry-eye drops to try. They will know what ingredients the drops contain and can help you identify any that may be causing you discomfort. It may be a case of trial and error but hopefully you will find a product that suits you.
Yes! I had a trabeculectomy about 8 years ago. To date I’ve had no further problems with that eye and the pressure in it is usually around 8 with no need for drops.
My other eye needs drops to keep the pressure around 14.
IOP post trabeculectomy 
I survived the Trabeculectomy 
Trabeculectomy circumstances
Anxiety after trabeculectomy (5 weeks) 
Dry eye following Trabeculectomy
