Kahook Dual Blade (KDB)

The Kahook Dual Blade (KDB) is a single-use ophthalmic blade with a micro-engineered profile which allows for insertion into the eye through a clear cornea micro-incision. It can be done with or without cataract surgery, and when done in conjunction with cataract surgery it utilizes the same incision as the cataract removal. The device is made of surgical grade stainless steel body with a long, thin shaft that allows for access across the anterior chamber to the trabecular meshwork (TM). Using a special mirrored lens, the surgeon uses the Kahook Dual blade to make parallel incisions in the trabecular meshwork (TM), unroofing it and opening up the inner wall of Schlemm’s Canal to improve aqueous humor outflow from the eye – which often reduces eye pressure. This procedure does not involve opening up the conjunctival tissues; this is a major advantage of this procedure, as it makes future glaucoma surgery (if needed) a lot simpler with less risk of failure.

This is an outpatient procedure performed in an ambulatory surgery center. The surgery is usually done under local anesthesia with intravenous sedation. Your doctor will want to examine you in the office the following day and you will be prescribed a regimen of postoperative drops for the next four to six weeks. If the procedure is successful you can expect a decrease in the intraocular pressure and you possibly may come off some of your glaucoma medications. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks before the outcome of the procedure is known.