Regular Versus Releasable Sutures in Surgery for Primary Congenital Glaucoma

Purpose: To compare releasable and regular sutures in combined angle and filtering surgery for primary congenital glaucoma. Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 39 eyes (26 right eyes) of 39 children (20 boys; 19 girls) who had primary congenital glaucoma treated with combined trabeculotomy-trabeculectomy with mitomycin C and scleral flap closure with regular or releasable sutures. Follow-up was 24 months. Success rates (defined as an intraocular pressure [IOP] < 16 mm Hg without hypotony-related complications and/or lack of IOP-related progression of the disease) were studied and complications were noted. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 6.7 +/- 5.8 months (range: 1 to 24 months; median: 5 months) in the regular suture group (20 eyes) and 5.3 +/- 2.8 months (range: 1 to 13 months; median: 5 months) in the releas-able suture group (19 eyes). The initial glaucoma surgery was successful in 13 (65%) and 13 (68.4%) eyes in the regular suture and releasable suture groups, respectively. The mean IOP was 17.4 +/- 7.3 and 16.0 +/- 5.4 mm Hg (P =.84) preoperatively and 8.0 +/- 9.7 and 5.8 +/- 3.6 mm Hg (P =.40) at the end of follow-up in the regular suture and releasable suture groups, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the clinical parameters between the two groups. Complications included rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, cataract, and superior lens subluxation, with each complication developing in one eye. Conclusions: Releasable sutures were not more advantageous than regular sutures in combined trabeculotomy-trabeculectomy with mitomycin C surgery for primary congenital glaucoma.