Cataract Surgery After Needling Revision of Trabeculectomy Blebs

PURPOSETo assess the effect of cataract surgery on trabeculectomy blebs that have previously had successful needling revision. STUDY DESIGNA retrospective controlled study. PATIENTS AND METHODSA cohort of patients undergoing needling of a poorly functioning trabeculectomy bleb was collected. From this cohort a group having had a successful needling outcome who subsequently underwent uneventful phacoemulsification was identified. Each member of this phacoemulsification group was matched with 2 controls from the cohort who had also had success from needling but who had not undergone cataract surgery. Survival analysis was performed using the date of cataract surgery as the entry time for the phacoemulsification group. For controls the entry time was the date of needling adjusted by subtracting the time between needling and cataract surgery of the matched phacoemulsification group subject. In this way an identical period had elapsed between needling and entry time for both phacoemulsification group and controls. Survival depended on (a) intraocular pressure (IOP) ≤21 mm Hg and (b) IOP