PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - King, A J AU - Rotchford, A P AU - Alwitry, A AU - Moodie, J TI - Frequency of bleb manipulations after trabeculectomy surgery AID - 10.1136/bjo.2006.109835 DP - 2007 Jul 01 TA - British Journal of Ophthalmology PG - 873--877 VI - 91 IP - 7 4099 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/91/7/873.short 4100 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/91/7/873.full SO - Br J Ophthalmol2007 Jul 01; 91 AB - Aim: To quantify the type and frequency of postoperative bleb manipulations undertaken after modern glaucoma surgery. Methods: Bleb manipulations were recorded after trabeculectomy surgery on 119 consecutive patients with at least 1 year of follow-up. The type of intervention and time after surgery were recorded. Statistical analysis identified success rates at various intraocular pressure (IOP) cut-off definitions and identified factors that increased the risk for bleb manipulation. Results: In all, 78.2% of trabeculectomies were followed by some form of bleb manipulation. Almost 49% of blebs underwent massage and a similar number required at least one suture removal, 31.1% required at least one 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) injection and 25.2% required at least one needling and 5-FU injection. The median time to the first intervention for massage, suture removal, 5-FU injection, and needling and 5-FU injection were 1, 14, 14 and 43 days, respectively. IOP measurements were higher at all follow-up time points in the intervention group. Failure to achieve specific IOP target pressures was also generally poorer in the 5-FU, and needling and 5-FU intervention groups. Conclusions: Postoperative intervention is a frequent occurrence after modern glaucoma surgery. This requires intensive postoperative follow-up and is a labour-intensive undertaking. Despite interventions in our group of patients, IOP in the intervention group was always higher than in the group that required no intervention.