Comparison of phacotrabeculectomy versus phacocanaloplasty in the treatment of patients with concomitant cataract and glaucoma

Background Cataract and glaucoma are both common comorbidities among older patients. Combining glaucoma surgery with minimal invasive phacoemulsification (phaco) is a considerable option to treat both conditions at the same time, although the combination with filtration surgery can produce a strong inflammatory response. Combined non-penetrating procedures like canaloplasty have shown to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) comparable to trabeculectomy without the risk of serious bleb-related complications. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the outcomes of phacotrabeculectomy and phacocanaloplasty. Methods Thirty-nine eyes with concomitant cataract and glaucoma who underwent phacotrabeculectomy (n = 20; 51.3%) or phacocanaloplasty (n = 19; 48.7%) were included into this trial on reduction of IOP, use of medication, success rate, incidence of complications and postsurgical interventions. Complete success was defined as IOP reduction by 30% or more and to 21 mmHg or less (definition 1a) or IOP to less than 18 mmHg (definition 2a) without glaucoma medication. Results Over a 12-month follow-up, baseline IOP significantly decreased from 30.0 ± 5.3 mmHg with a mean of 2.5 ± 1.2 glaucoma medications to 11.7 ± 3.5 mmHg with a mean of 0.2 ± 0.4 medications in eyes with phacotrabeculectomy (P < .0001). Eyes with phacocanaloplasty had a preoperative IOP of 28.3 ± 4.1 mmHg and were on 2.8 ± 1.1 IOP-lowering drugs. At 12 months, IOP significantly decreased to 12.6 ± 2.1 mmHg and less glaucoma medications were necessary (mean 1.0 ± 1.5 topical medications; P < .05). 15 patients (78.9%) with phacotrabeculectomy and 9 patients (60.0%) in the phacocanaloplasty group showed complete success according to definition 1 and 2 after 1 year (P = .276). Postsurgical complications were seen in 7 patients (36.8%) of the phacocanaloplasty group which included intraoperative macroperforation of the trabeculo-Descemet membrane (5.3%), hyphema (21.1%) and bleb formation (10.5%). Although more complications were observed in the phacotrabeculectomy group, no statistically significant difference was found. Conclusions Phacocanaloplasty offers a new alternative to phacotrabeculectomy for treatment of concomitant glaucoma and cataract, although phacotrabeculectomy yielded in better results in terms of IOP maintained without glaucoma medications.