Canaloplasty

Canaloplasty is a new glaucoma procedure designed to enhance and restore the eye’s natural drainage system to provide sustained reduction of intraocular pressure. Canaloplasty utilizes breakthrough microcathetertechnology in a minimally invasive procedure that can, in many cases, reduce the intraocular pressure by 30-50 percent.

Canaloplasty is an option for many of the 3 million American glaucoma patients whose glaucoma is not adequately controlled with or without medications, surgery, or laser treatments. Canaloplasty, in many cases, allows patients to become less dependent on costly glaucoma medications.

To perform a canaloplasty, your doctor will create a tiny incision to gain access to a canal in the eye.

A microcatheter will circumnavigate the canal around your iris, enlarging the main drainage channel and its smaller collector channels through the injection of a sterile, gel-like material called viscoelastic. The catheter is then removed and a suture is placed within the canal and tightened. This tightened suture ensures that the canal remains open. By opening the canal, the pressure inside your eye will be relieved.

A canaloplasty procedure, although not the best choice for all cases of glaucoma, may be an excellent choice for patients whose medications aren’t working adequately. It may also be optimal for patients with glaucoma who are on two or more medications who are undergoing a cataract operation, even if their glaucoma is relatively controlled. Canaloplasty benefits include: