Punctal occlusion and topical medications for glaucoma.

We studied the effects of punctal occlusion on the intraocular pressures of patients treated with topical medications for glaucoma. Silicone punctal plugs were used to occlude the inferior punctum of one eye in each of 19 patients treated with identical antiglaucoma eyedrops in both eyes. The intraocular pressures before and after punctal occlusion were compared. The eyes with the punctal plugs showed a statistically significant (P less than .0001) decrease in pressure of 1.32 mm Hg after punctal occlusion when compared to that of the fellow control unplugged eyes. The intraocular pressures in the plugged eyes decreased an average of 1.82 mm Hg after punctal occlusion when compared to before punctal occlusion (P = .001). The intraocular pressure in the unplugged control eyes did not change significantly after punctal occlusion of the fellow treated eye.