The traditional stepwise approach in the management of patients with open-angle glaucoma—moving from medication to laser-based procedures to surgical options, requiring failure at each step prior to moving to a successive level—has been disrupted through the development and improved understanding of efficacy and risk of available options. Glaucoma is the leading cause of global irreversible blindness, and despite continued research in disease pathogenesis, all available treatment options act to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP), the key treatable risk factor for disease development and progression.

By Jessica Steen, OD
Review of Optometry CE, July 2022