# Anterior chamber proliferative membrane interception (AC-PMI)-enhanced trabeculectomy versus trabeculectomy for treating neovascular glaucoma: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

## TL;DR

This study compares a new surgical technique with traditional surgery for treating a severe type of glaucoma to see if it improves outcomes.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel surgical approach by adding a step to intercept proliferative membranes during trabeculectomy for neovascular glaucoma.

## Key findings

- The trial will assess the efficacy and safety of AC-PMI-enhanced trabeculectomy in 100 patients.
- Follow-up data will be collected at multiple intervals over 24 months to evaluate long-term outcomes.
- The study aims to contribute to improved treatment strategies for refractory neovascular glaucoma.

## Abstract

Neovascular glaucoma (NVG) is an irreversible blinding eye disease worldwide and is classified as one of the refractory glaucoma conditions, severely impacting visual function and vision. Unfortunately, effective surgical interventions to improve the prognosis of NVG patients are currently lacking. The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anterior chamber proliferative membrane interception (AC-PMI)-enhanced trabeculectomy compared to the traditional trabeculectomy.

AC-PMI enhanced trabeculectomy versus trabeculectomy for the treatment of NVG is a single-center, prospective, double-arms, and randomized controlled trial of superior efficacy, which will involve 100 NVG inpatients. Patients will be randomly assigned into two groups using the random number table method. One group will undergo trabeculectomy using anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (Anti-VEGF) preoperatively and mitomycin C intraoperatively, while the other group will undergo AC-PMI enhanced trabeculectomy with the same medications (Anti-VEGF and mitomycin C). The patients will be followed up at the baseline and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months postoperatively. Meanwhile, we will collect the demographics, characteristics, and examination results and monitor any occurrences of adverse events at each follow-up time.

This is an efficacy study of a novel surgical approach for treating neovascular glaucoma. Building upon conventional filtering surgeries, this approach introduces an additional step involving the interception of the proliferative membrane to effectively halt the growth of fibrovascular tissue. This study aims to explore a promising new surgical approach for managing NVG and contribute to the advancement of glaucoma treatment strategies.

ChiCTR ChiCTR2200055138. Registered on 01 January 2022. https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=145255.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-024-08123-8.