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Narrow Angle Treatment Melbourne FL
What Is Narrow Angle?
Throughout the day, your eye produces a lot of fluid, called aqueous humor, which helps to nourish your eye and maintain a healthy ocular pressure. Ordinarily, after circulating around your pupil, this fluid exits through an angle with trabecular meshwork that exists between your iris and your cornea. The angle essentially functions as a drainage system.
However, some people have or develop a narrower than average angle, which can impede fluid drainage. This causes narrow angle glaucoma or angle-closure glaucoma, which is when elevated ocular pressure threatens permanent and potentially complete vision loss over a brief period. Fortunately, the outstanding eye doctors at TRES VISION Group can treat this condition.
Narrow Angle Treatment: Laser Peripheral Iridotomy
Our talented ophthalmologists are pleased to offer laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) to our patients with a narrow angle. With iridotomy, the doctor uses a laser to create a tiny hole at the corner of the pigmented portion of the eye (the iris). This effectively widens the passageway that drains the aqueous humor to help prevent ocular pressure from rising.
Prior to the procedure, anesthetic drops are placed in your eyes to limit discomfort. The procedure itself takes about 5 to 10 minutes, but you will have to stay in our office for another 30 minutes to one hour so a doctor can check your ocular pressure before you return home.
Laser Peripheral Iridotomy Recovery and Results
You may notice that you have blurry vision and mild discomfort immediately following your procedure, but these side effects are temporary. You will be prescribed anti-inflammatory eye drops to use for a few days following your treatment.
While LPI cannot restore any vision that has been lost, it is usually successful at preventing future vision loss associated with ocular pressure. However, a small percentage of patients may need follow-up treatments if the procedure does not help to lower ocular pressure.
Candidates for Narrow Angle Treatment
Many patients who have been diagnosed with a narrow angle via a comprehensive eye exam can benefit from laser peripheral iridotomy. This includes patients who have developed narrow angle glaucoma and urgently need treatment, as well as patients who have narrow angles and are at risk for developing glaucoma later. Given that angle-closure glaucoma can steal vision quickly, it can be a good idea to be proactive with this kind of care.
Narrow angle is most common in patients with farsightedness. Because hyperopic patients have shorter eyes in general, the drainage angle is more likely to be narrow. Older patients who have untreated cataracts can also develop narrow angle since cataracts can slightly nudge the iris forward, thus narrowing the angle.
In the past, eye doctors knew that some patients were at risk for developing narrow angle glaucoma in the future, but they lacked the tools necessary to provide proactive care. That was the past — today, our doctors are thrilled to be able to offer preventative care that ensures the aqueous humor drains properly before significant problems begin. To speak to our expert doctors, please schedule a consultation by calling (321) 984-3200.