Anterior chamber paracentesis (ACP) is a surgical procedure done to reduce

intraocular pressure Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the fluid pressure inside the eye. Tonometry is the method eye care professionals use to determine this. IOP is an important aspect in the evaluation of patients at risk of glaucoma. Most tonometers are calibrated t ...

(IOP) of the eye. The procedure is used in management of

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

and

uveitis Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and ...

. It is also used for clinical diagnosis of infectious uveitis.

Uses

Anterior chamber paracentesis is used in the management of acute angle closure glaucoma, and uveitis. It can also prevent a raise in IOP after

intravitreal injection Intravitreal administration is a route of administration of a drug, or other substance, in which the substance is delivered into the vitreous humor of the eye. "Intravitreal" literally means "inside an eye". Intravitreal injections were first intr ...

s. Aqueous humor collected using anterior chamber paracentesis may be used for clinical diagnosis of infectious uveitis.

Procedure

In this procedure

aqueous humor The aqueous humour is a transparent water-like fluid similar to blood plasma, but containing low protein concentrations. It is secreted from the ciliary body, a structure supporting the lens of the eyeball. It fills both the anterior and the po ...

from the

anterior chamber of eyeball The anterior chamber (Optometric Abbreviations#AC, AC) is the aqueous humor-filled space inside the eye between the iris (anatomy), iris and the cornea's innermost surface, the Corneal endothelium, endothelium. Hyphema, Uveitis, anterior uveit ...

is drained out by using a tuberculin syringe, with or without a plunger attached to a hypodermic needle or a paracentesis incision. Eye is anesthetized using proparacaine or

tetracaine Tetracaine, also known as amethocaine, is an ester local anesthetic used to numb the eyes, nose, or throat. It may also be applied to the skin before starting intravenous therapy to decrease pain from the procedure. Typically it is applied as a l ...

eye drops ''Eye Drops'' is a television program on TechTV that showcased short computer animation movies and clips made using off the shelf 3D animation software. The show claimed to showcase all different types of animation, but only a very small number ...

prior to ACP.

Paracentesis Paracentesis (from Ancient Greek, Greek κεντάω, "to pierce") is a form of body fluid sampling procedure, generally referring to peritoneocentesis (also called laparocentesis or abdominal paracentesis) in which the peritoneal cavity is punct ...

is performed through the clear cornea adjacent to the

limbus Limbus (Lat. "edge, boundary") may refer to: * Corneal limbus, the border of the cornea and the sclera (the white of the eye) * Limbus of fossa ovalis, in the heart * Limbus 3 and Limbus 4, two line-ups of a German avant-garde musical group * ...

Complications

Pain, traumatic injuries of the iris,

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

l abscess, inadvertent

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

touch, occurrence of Anterior chamber

fibrin Fibrin (also called Factor Ia) is a fibrous protein, fibrous, non-globular protein involved in the Coagulation, clotting of blood. It is formed by the action of the protease thrombin on fibrinogen, which causes it to polymerization, polymerize. ...

, Intraocular hemorrhage, decompression

retinopathy Retinopathy is any damage to the retina of the eyes, which may cause vision impairment. Retinopathy often refers to retinal vascular disease, or damage to the retina caused by abnormal blood flow. Age-related macular degeneration is technically in ...

, hyphaema, ocular hypotension due to leakage and exogenous endophthalmitis are complication of ACP. Traumatic cataract may occur secondary to lens trauma.

References

Glaucoma Eye surgery {{Ophthalmology-stub