September 30, 2017
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Releasable sutures yield no advantage in primary congenital glaucoma surgery

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Releasable sutures in combined trabeculotomy-trabeculectomy surgery for primary congenital glaucoma offered no advantages over conventional sutures, according to a study.

In the prospective study, the two suture types were compared in 39 eyes of 39 children with primary congenital glaucoma treated with combined trabeculotomy-trabeculectomy with mitomycin C and scleral flap closure. An IOP less than 16 mm Hg without hypotony-related complications and/or no IOP-related progression at 24-month follow-up was considered a success.

Regular sutures were used in 20 eyes, and releasable sutures were used in 19 eyes.

The initial surgery was successful in 13 eyes in each group.

The mean IOP difference between the two suture groups was not statistically significant preoperatively and at final follow-up. The mean IOP was 17.4 mm Hg preoperatively and 8 mm Hg at 24-month follow-up in the regular suture group compared with 16 mm Hg preoperatively and 5.8 mm Hg at 24-month follow-up in the releasable suture group.

“There were no statistically significant differences between the success rates among the eyes with a successful initial surgical procedure at any time point,” the study author wrote.

The complications were comparable in both groups with no association to either technique. – by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: Bayoumi reports no relevant financial disclosures.