Number of glaucoma procedures in US decreases despite aging population

As the aging population grows in the U.S., the number of Medicare beneficiaries has increased but the number of glaucoma procedures has declined, according to a study.“The main message is that the landscape of glaucoma surgery is changing,” study author Pradeep Y. Ramulu, MD, PhD, told Ocular Surgery News. “Before, trabeculectomy was, far and away, the primary surgery for glaucoma. Now, there are more cyclophotocoagulations performed than primary trabeculectomies, and most of these are done endoscopically. Also, it is interesting to see that several minimally invasive glaucoma procedures, such as endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation and canaloplasty in particular, are becoming more and more common.”