Characterizing post-operative telephone communication following glaucoma drainage device surgery: a single-center retrospective study

Post-operative communication plays an important role in identifying complications after glaucoma surgery, yet communication patterns following glaucoma drainage device implantation remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to characterize post-operative telephone communication following glaucoma tube shunt surgery and evaluate associations between patient telephone encounters, urgent visits, and post-operative complications. Electronic medical records from a single tertiary academic eye center were reviewed for 449 patients who underwent primary glaucoma drainage device implantation (Ahmed, n = 215; Baerveldt, n = 234) between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2019. Demographic data and details of telephone encounters within 3 months post-operatively were collected. Telephone calls were categorized into five reasons: post-operative symptoms, medication refills/renewals, medication-related concerns, questions regarding post-operative instructions, or follow-up scheduling. Frequency, timing, and reasons for calls were analyzed, as well as rates of post-operative urgent visits and complications. Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon rank sum and Fisher’s exact tests. 46.1% of patients made at least one telephone call post-operatively within 3 months. Post-operative symptoms were the most common reason (25.2%), followed by medication refills (14.0%). Among patients who reported post-operative symptom-related calls, 32.7% made urgent visits, and 45.9% of urgent visits were associated with post-operative complications. Notably, 86.4% (19/22) of patients with complications had previously called about post-operative symptoms. Hyphema was the most common post-operative complication (54.5%). Telephone communication is frequently utilized following glaucoma tube shunt surgery. Patient-reported post-operative symptoms were associated with subsequent urgent visits and were common among patients with post-operative complications. These findings suggest that symptom-related telephone communication was frequently observed among patients who subsequently required urgent evaluation during the post-operative period. While telephone communication was common following glaucoma drainage device surgery, comparisons between Ahmed and Baerveldt implant recipients should be interpreted as exploratory given baseline differences between cohorts and potential confounding by indication.