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Since the month of May, when it was launched, doctors Pérez, Martínez and Ibáñez have operated on 11 patients, with very promising results in all of them.
The Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital has incorporated into the Glaucoma Unit Services portfolio, for the first time in Aragon, a simple, minimally invasive, highly effective implantation technique with a low rate of complications. This is the iStent, a microscopic stent that is effective in patients who need to reduce intraocular pressure, both implanted in isolation and combined with cataract surgery.
Since the month of May, when it was launched, doctors Pérez, Martínez and Ibáñez have operated on 11 patients, with very promising results in all of them. It is estimated that, throughout 2020, more than 70 patients with glaucoma may undergo surgery at the Clinical Hospital with this new technique, which complements canaloplasty, a technique that began a couple of years ago and for which the Hospital Clinical is a reference center.
This stent is the smallest device ever implanted in the human body, providing control over intraocular pressure (IOP) and reducing the number of hypotensive medications required. It is a safe surgery with a quick recovery. Because the iStent is extremely small and is implanted inside the eye, patients cannot see or feel it.
Different studies have shown that this intervention has a high degree of effectiveness and a higher level of safety than other glaucomatous surgeries, especially those that require drilling the eye and carry a greater risk of complications such as hypotension, inflammation or bleeding.
It is indicated to safely and effectively reduce intraocular pressure in patients diagnosed with open-angle glaucoma, pseudoexfoliative glaucoma or pigmentary glaucoma, as an isolated procedure, or together with cataract surgery as a combined procedure, in patients who need to reduce pressure. intraocular.
FUNCTIONING
The iStent is designed to create a bridge between the front of the eye and its drainage pathway, increasing fluid flow and improving the natural drainage of the eyeball, thus helping to control elevated intraocular pressure in eyes with glaucoma.
It provides several advantages since it is a more physiological and simple surgery, and produces less postoperative inflammation, reduces the need for postoperative controls and has a lower complication rate.
Being a minimally invasive technique, it does not require the formation of a filtration bleb, which reduces the risks of infection and enables much faster rehabilitation. With this method, a reduction in IOP of around 25 to 30 percent is achieved, the Government of Aragon reported in a press release.
GLAUCOMA
Glaucoma belongs to a group of diseases that have in common damage to the optic nerve that causes visual loss, the main risk factor being increased intraocular pressure (IOP).
It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the working-age population, with more than 60 million people suffering from it worldwide, more than half of whom are unaware that they suffer from it.
When ocular hypertension cannot be controlled with medications or lasers, surgical intervention may be necessary. In recent years, a new group of devices has been added to traditional surgery that significantly expand the therapeutic options. This set of devices has been called minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), which is performed using implants, including the iStent.
All glaucoma interventions pursue the same objective, which is to reduce intraocular pressure and the number of complications. The idea of these implants is to try to induce minimal surgical trauma while maintaining the anatomy of the eye and achieving a faster recovery for the patient.
In mild or moderate glaucomas, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) can reduce, or even eliminate, the need for eye drops for treatment. In more advanced cases, it may be necessary to associate this surgery with antiglaucomatous medications.
