Understanding trabeculectomy

Building a new drainage path for your eye.

When glaucoma progresses despite drops and laser, trabeculectomy creates a surgical drainage channel to lower eye pressure dramatically. It's highly effective and preserves vision when other options have fallen short.

What's happening

A tiny valve for excess fluid.

In glaucoma, fluid drains too slowly, raising eye pressure. Trabeculectomy creates a new drainage channel: we make a tiny flap in the white of the eye that lets fluid escape into a small blister (bleb) under your upper eyelid.

Your body absorbs the fluid from the bleb harmlessly. Eye pressure drops — often dramatically. The flap acts like a valve to prevent pressure from going too low.

What helps

Here's the plan —
and why it works.

Pre-op

Stopping some drops

Certain drops get paused before surgery. We'll give you an exact schedule.

Day of

The surgery

About 45 minutes. Local anesthesia. You'll go home the same day with a protective shield.

First month

Close monitoring

Visits every few days then weekly. Steroid drops to control scarring. Possibly laser touch-ups.

Long-term

Stable pressure

By month 3, pressure usually settles into target range. Check-ups every 3–6 months after that.

Call us immediately for

Severe pain, sudden vision loss, very red eye with discharge, or a bleb that suddenly looks different. Bleb infections are serious and time-sensitive.

Common questions

Honest answers to common questions.

Is it painful?+

No. We use local anesthesia — numbing injection around the eye. You're awake but relaxed. Post-op discomfort is mild, usually resolved with over-the-counter pain medication.

How long is recovery?+

Frequent follow-ups for 2–3 months. Many small adjustments fine-tune the drainage. Return to most activities within a few weeks, but full stabilization takes 3 months.

Will I still need drops after?+

Often significantly fewer — many patients stop drops completely. About 20–30% need additional medications over time.

What can go wrong?+

Main risks: pressure too low early on, infection (rare), cataract formation (more likely), scarring that requires intervention. We manage these actively during follow-up.

Will my vision change?+

Vision often feels slightly different for weeks as things settle. Most patients return to their pre-surgery vision. Some see better once pressure is controlled.