COSOPT-S® Treatment Versus Acetazolamide Before Trabeculectomy

The most common cause of post-trabeculectomy filtration failure is postoperative scarring. Long-term preoperative treatment with local antiglaucoma agents containing preservatives has an increased risk of post-operative scarring of the filtration bleb. Therefore many surgeons prepare their patients for planned trabeculectomy by discontinuing local antiglaucoma drugs, controlling IOP with oral acetazolamide, and treating the eye with local steroids. Preservative-free COSOPT-S® eye drops b.i.d now provide a possibility to reduce IOP preoperatively with the aim of avoiding postoperative excessive scarring and the known adverse effects of oral acetazolamide while achieving comparable IOP reduction and long-term outcomes. This study will investigate comparability (non-inferiority) of medical benefits of two different IOP lowering pharmaceutical interventions prior to trabeculectomy comparing COSOPT-S® bid to oral acetazolamide plus dexamethasone.