Intraocular pressure after descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK)

To assess the incidence of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) after descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK). Retrospective case series. From the start of the technique in our hospital in 2003 until the middle of 2010, 73 eyes underwent DSEK, of which 66 (90.5 %) had a clear graft 1 year after surgery. IOP data pre- and postoperatively were analyzed. Follow-up was 1–5 years (mean 3.8, SD 1.3). Mean age was 71 years (SD 11, range 43–89). Three eyes (4.5 %) had a history of glaucoma before DSEK. Mean pre-operative IOP was 12.4 mmHg (SD ± 4.3). Mean IOP 1 day post-operatively was 16.4 mmHg (±9.2). Mean IOP after 1 and 6 months, and 1, 3, and 5 years were, respectively, 13.9 (±5.3), 14.7 (±5.6), 14.2 (±5.4), 13.8 (±3.7), and 12.6 (±3.5). Seventeen percent (11 eyes) had a postoperative rise in IOP which needed medical or surgical intervention: 8 % (5 eyes) had a rise in IOP 1 day after DSEK, of which 1 underwent a trabeculectomy 7 months after DSEK surgery; 6 % (4 eyes) had a rise in IOP later in the postoperative period, which could all be managed medically; and 3 % (2 eyes) had increased IOP 1 day after DSEK and later in the postoperative period, both eyes underwent a trabeculectomy 5 and 24 months, respectively, after DSEK surgery. An increase in IOP was encountered in 17 % of DSEK patients. Checking the IOP in the short and long postoperative period is necessary.