Selection of the Antiglaucoma Component of Combined Surgery for Cataract and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Due to the increase in life expectancy and the growth of the contingent of elderly and senile patients, the relevance of combined surgical treatment of diseases characteristic of this age group increases: cataracts and primary open-angle glaucoma. Considering that ultrasound phacoemulsification has become the standard of phaco surgery, when planning a combined surgery, the main task of the surgeon is an adequate choice of the antiglaucoma component of the operation in a patient with cataract and primary open-angle glaucoma. According to the literature the best results are achieved by pathogenetically oriented methods of the antiglaucoma component of the combined operation. In this case an important stage of the surgery is the intraoperative determination of the level of retention of the outflow of intraocular fluid based on the study of the phenomenon of retrograde filling of the Schlemm’s canal with blood during the combined operation, which allows for quick and accurate determination of the retention level and identification of the pathogenetically oriented antiglaucoma component of the operation.