Surgical Treatment
If medical treatment of glaucoma is ineffective, a surgical procedure may be needed. Your doctor may have you continue using eyedrops after your surgery, or you may need another procedure if the first is ineffective.

There are three different surgeries to treat glaucoma, laser surgery, filtering surgery and drainage implant surgery. Your doctor may recommend laser surgery first, but if the eye pressure is very high you may need a surgical procedure called a trabeculectomy. This filtering surgery procedure is performed using small instruments under an operating microscope. Your surgeon will create an opening in the white of your eye  and remove a small piece of tissue at the base of your cornea so the fluid can drain, lowering your eye pressure. Surgery will be performed on one eye, and you might have surgery on the other eye several weeks later. You may need additional procedures as the opening heals over. Another procedure involves inserting a small tool into the eye's drainage cana land removing a small section of the trabecular meshwork, which should help fluid drain from your eye. During drainage implant surgery, the surgeon inserts a small tube in your eye to facilitate draining and reduce pressure.