Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Progression to Glaucoma Surgery in Patients Followed Up in a Retina Unit

Abstract

IntroductionIn this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 on progression to glaucoma surgery in patients followed up at the retina unit of the Ophthalmology Outpatient Clinic of Health Sciences University Antalya Training and Research Hospital.MethodsThe patients who were followed up at the retina unit of our hospital. The patients were divided into four groups. This study was retrospective.Results The ratio of the number of patients who underwent glaucoma surgery to the number of those presenting to the retina unit was found to be statistically significantly increased in Group 4 compared to the remaining three groups (p<0.0001 for all). The ratio of the number of patients who were followed up in the retina unit and underwent surgery due to neovascular or silicone oil-induced glaucoma to the total number of patients who presented to the retina unit was statistically significantly increased in Group 4 compared to Groups 1 and 2 (p=0.001 for both). ConclusionThis study is the first to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on progression to glaucoma surgery in patients followed up at the retina unit. We found an increase in the number of patients that required surgery for neovascular or silicone oil-induced glaucoma compared to previous years as a result of not attending regular follow-up at the retina unit due to COVID-19. We consider that inability to apply timely treatments due to the pandemic conditions are effective in this situation.