Ciliary body ablation: where are we and how did we get here?

Management of intraocular pressure remains the cornerstone of glaucoma treatment. Related medical and surgical practices involve increasing aqueous outflow or decreasing aqueous production. Filtration procedures that increase aqueous outflow are the first-line surgical defense in glaucoma. However, some cases of glaucoma are resistant to such treatment. In these cases, ciliary body ablation by various methods has had substantial success. Surgical manipulation of aqueous production has been used in glaucoma management since the turn of the century. Techniques have progressed markedly as technology has produced more discrete therapies designed to decrease aqueous production by destroying ciliary body epithelium. Over the past 90 years success has been achieved with a wide range of techniques, from surgical disinsertion of the ciliary body to recent laser and ultrasound techniques. With the development of more precise contact lasers and endoscopic visualization, side effects have been reduced and clinical success rates increased.