title: Improvised 3-0 polypropylene plug for the glaucoma drainage tube during phacoemulsification.
abstract: Overfiltration through a preexisting glaucoma drainage tube can make subsequent phacoemulsification surgery more challenging due to a dangerously shallow anterior chamber. The author improvised a 3-0 polypropylene plug to occlude the implant tube during phacoemulsification in two patients with uveitic glaucoma and a prior Baerveldt glaucoma drainage device. The improvised plug safely and effectively maintained the anterior chamber during phacoemulsification. A 3-0 polypropylene suture can be tied, trimmed, and inserted into a glaucoma drainage implant tube, in select cases, to maintain the anterior chamber during cataract surgery.
authors.affiliation: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Herbert P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Fechter
mesh_terms: D020327:Glaucoma Drainage Implants; D006801:Humans; D018918:Phacoemulsification; D011126:Polypropylenes; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013537:Sutures
chemical_list: D011126:Polypropylenes