Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40050508›Full record

ArticleGraefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie2025

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on glaucoma surgery in German hospitals.

Philip Keye, Charlotte Evers, Timothy Gläser, Philip Braun, Patrick Thelen, Daniel Böhringer, Stefan Johann Lang, Thomas Reinhard, Jan Lübke

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. First-in-human implantation of a self-adjustable glaucoma drainage device (eyeValve): safety and performance in blind eyes.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Philip KeyeEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. Philip.Keye@uniklinik-freiburg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8307-5267
Charlotte EversDepartment of Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital, Münster, Germany.
Timothy GläserEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Philip BraunEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Patrick ThelenEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Daniel BöhringerEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Stefan Johann LangDepartment of Ophthalmology, Brandenburg Medical School, University Hospital Brandenburg, Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.
Thomas ReinhardEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Jan LübkeEye Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess the quantitative changes in surgical glaucoma care in German hospitals between 2019 and 2022 with special focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall volume and trends within glaucoma surgery.

methodsThe quality reports of The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), containing information on the quantity of surgical glaucoma procedures of 296 German hospitals were obtained in machine-readable form for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. We analyzed the annual numbers and proportions of different glaucoma surgery types as categorized by German OPS codes, with special focus on 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

resultsThe total number of surgical glaucoma procedures in German hospitals in 2020 decreased by 8.5% compared to 2019 and recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Within filtration surgery, the number of classic trabeculectomy steadily declined while bleb-forming filtration devices were used more frequently. In all four years, cyclodestructive procedures were the most frequently performed interventions overall.

conclusionThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall surgical volume, especially in 2020, was substantial but overall moderate and transient. The trend towards minimally invasive procedures and bleb-forming filtration devices accelerated after 2020, resulting in a pronounced decline of classic filtration surgery, such as trabeculectomy.

Indexed as

COVID-19Filtering SurgeryGlaucomaHospitalsSARS-CoV-2GermanyHumansPandemicsTrabeculectomyCOVID-19GermanyGlaucomaHospitalsPandemicSurgery

Identifiers

PMID40050508
PMCPMC12373699

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.