Surgical Treatment of Canine Glaucoma: Filtering and End-Stage Glaucoma Procedures.

Abstract

Canine glaucoma is a common cause of vision loss associated with raised intraocular pressure, and leads to damage of the retina and optic nerve head. In most cases, medical treatment alone cannot provide long-term management of intraocular pressure control and preservation of vision. Surgical intervention is usually recommended to either decrease aqueous humor production, or increase its outflow. Among the current available procedures, filtering techniques are aimed at increasing aqueous humor outflow. Proper surgical timing and a combination of cyclodestructive and filtering procedures have been recently suggested to improve the long-term success of surgical treatment in dogs. Bleb fibrosis and surgical failure are still common occurrences in filtration surgery with relapse of glaucoma and vision loss. End stage procedures, such as enucleation, evisceration with intrascleral prosthesis, and chemical ablation of the ciliary bodies are then recommended to address chronic discomfort in buphthalmic and blind eyes.