It takes approximately six weeks for this connective tissue to form. The body produces a reaction to the connective tissue that surrounds the plate. The plate is not visible and is located towards the back and on the sclera. The tube is closed shut with a suture that dissolves on its own six-to-eight weeks after the surgery. When you look in the mirror, you will see the donor sclera in the upper portion of your eye. For this reason, you may see a white area in your vision for a while. The surgery takes approximately an hour and often ends with an injection of anti-inflammatory medication in the lower portion of the eye.

A piece of donor sclera is stitched on to the posterior surface of the eye. The little tube is placed into the anterior chamber of the eye. The Baerveldt drainage implant consists of an artificial little tube with a silicone plate attached. Glaucoma surgery is performed using local or general anaesthesia. The definitive result can only be known six months after the procedure, at the earliest. In a minority of patients, there is a possibility that a second implant will need to be placed. Some patients require a repeat surgery in certain instances (sometimes years after the first surgery). Vision will not improve, and there is no repair of the damaged nerve cells.Īdditional eye drops to lower eye pressure are also necessary in approximately 75% of the patients (for either a short or long period).

This is, among other things, due to age-related loss of the nerve fibres (separate from the worsening caused by glaucoma). This is accomplished in approximately 75% of the patients.Īdditional worsening of the visual field can seldom be completely stopped. The Baerveldt glaucoma implant is a glaucoma surgery that aims to reduce the eye pressure in order to preserve - though not to improve - visual acuity as much as possible. Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which a person gradually loses fibres of the optic nerve, usually due to elevated eye pressure.

Deformed eye pupil