12
Jun 2015
Glaucoma could be cured by simple injection
According to eye surgeons, a simple jab could cure glaucoma, a sight-robbing condition usually caused by damage to the optic nerve.
Approximately 600,000 people in Britain suffer from the condition, a permanent narrowing of the vision, which results from an excessive build up of fluid in the eye. Vision narrows progressively as the nerve damage worsens.
Current treatment includes eye drops given to those at risk, but these usually fail to control the eye pressure effectively, or laser eye surgery, but this can also fail to work. Thousands of patients go on to have a trabeculectomy, treatment which often involves inserting a small tube into the eye to drain it, attached to a metal plate inserted below the eye to help draw the fluid away.
The new technique, named the Xen Gel Stent, is less invasive, carries fewer complications and recovery is quicker. Surgery takes a few minutes and involves a ‘microscopic noodle’ the width of a human hair, being delivered through a hypodermic needle into the eye.
Vik Sharma, consultant eye surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said it was “quicker and safer” than methods used currently. Keith Barton of Moorfields Eye Hospital said “I can see this being taken up more and more n the NHS”.
Mr Barton went on to way “The technique is less invasive, there tends to be fewer complications and there’s quicker recovery. With a traditional trabeculectomy it’s typically two or three months before the eye gets completely back to normal. With this, it’s more like four weeks.”
Mr Sharma said “I have found it as effective as traditional surgery, but without the complications or discomfort.” He went on to say, however, that it is more expensive, with the cost for private treatment being around £6,000, compared to around £4,000 for a trabeculectomy.
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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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