Combined Surgery Versus Phacoemulsification Alone for Patients with Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma: A meta-analysis

PurposesThe purpose of this meta-analysis is to systematically compare the efficacy and safety between combined surgery (phacoemulsification combined with trabeculectomy) and phacoemulsification for primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) patients.MethodsThis work was done through the data searched from the PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. The Cochrane Handbook was also used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. In addition, this meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.4 software.ResultsA total of seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. Compared with phacoemulsification alone, combined surgery resulted in significant reduction in the IOP (MD = -1.45, 95%CI, -2.38 to -0.51, p = .002). And more reduction in number of glaucoma medications was shown in the combined surgery group (MD, -0.59; 95%CI, -1.01 to -0.17; p = .006). For the improvement of the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), there was no statistical differences between two groups (MD, 0.05; 95%CI, -0.01 to 0.11; p = .08). In subgroup analysis, the BCVA improved more significantly for medically controlled PACG patients in the phacoemulsification alone group (MD, 0.09; 95%CI, 0.01 to 0.07; p = .02). Compared with the phacoemulsification alone group, more complications were shown in the combined surgery group (RR, 0.22; 95%CI, 0.09 to 0.56; p = .001).ConclusionFor lowering IOP, combined surgery was superior to phacoemulsification alone for PACG patients. Meanwhile, combined surgery generated more complications. For medically controlled PACG patients, phacoemulsification alone is more conducive to the improvement of BCVA.