15-minute laser is best treatment for glaucoma patients, says study

[Judi Lynn]

Top surgeon hails fast procedure that saves a lifetime using eye drops

Robin McKie science editor
Sat 9 Mar 2019 11.00 EST

Lasers should become the principal method in the UK for treating patients with the debilitating eye condition glaucoma. That is the stark conclusion of a three-year study published on Sunday.

The report, which appears in the Lancet, says the laser technique – known as selective laser trabeculoplasty or SLT – should replace the prescribing of eye drops, the current favoured way to treat glaucoma. The study has revealed that SLT is not only more effective and safer, but should also save the NHS £1.5m a year in tackling the condition.

“Simple, safe, pain-free laser treatments not only work better than eye drops but they cost the NHS less,” said one of the report’s authors, Gus Gazzard, who is based at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

“Using a laser for a one-off treatment also relieves patients from the tyranny of daily drops, which they have to take for the rest of their lives, and which can also produce side-effects.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/09/15-minute-laser-treatment-best-for-glaucoma-patients

[diddlysquat]

1. Even with insurance,

these eyedrops are Very expensive.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. They certainly are

The cost for my wife's drops is ridiculously high at the beginning of each year. The patent won't expire, allowing for a generic replacement, for many years to come.