Consultation on New Clinical Guideline for the Management of Angle-Closure Glaucoma

  • 13 Oct 2021
  • RCOphth

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) has produced a new draft clinical guideline on the management of Angle-Closure Glaucoma. This has been developed through a guideline development group (GDG) chaired by Professor Paul Foster.

The College would now welcome any comments or observations on the content, format, or recommendations in this new guidance, to help contribute to and influence the final guideline.

We would particularly like to hear about additional sources of evidence which the GDG may wish to consider, or views on alternative interpretation of the evidence which may lead to a rephrasing or amendment of the recommendations.

Consultation documents

The consultation documents outline key recommendations and good practice points for implementation, current practice and why there is scope for change, and the process used to develop this guideline.

Download key documents relating to this consultation:

Consultation process

We would be grateful if you could provide your comments by 5 November 2021.

Please send your comments to Barny Foot by email at [email protected]

Barny can also be contacted if you have any questions.

The impact of primary open angle glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness affecting an estimated 80 million people worldwide. Although primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) affects three times as many people globally, the absolute number of people blinded by glaucoma is equally split between POAG and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG). PACG causes a higher rate of severe visual loss than does POAG. Although POAG affects approximately three times as many people globally as does PACG (60 million versus 20 million), the numbers of people blinded by POAG and PACG are roughly equal.

Information for clinicians involved in eye care in the community and in hospital eye services

This guideline covers primary angle-closure only and specifically excludes secondary disease such as that resulting from uveitis or neovascularization. This guideline has been written primarily for clinicians involved in eye care in the community and in hospital eye services and aims to inform clinicians on 4 main points

  1. What is the accuracy of current diagnostic tests
  2. What is the effectiveness of different interventions
  3. When to refer to hospital eye services
  4. When to discharge to community.

More information about RCOphth guidelines

Our guidelines are systematically generated to help clinicians make better decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific eye disorders, enhancing clinician and patient decision making by describing and appraising the scientific evidence and reasoning behind clinical recommendations.

All Standards & Guidance

RCOphth guideline recommendations are agreed via consensus of the guideline development group (GDG). In addition, we undertake consultation with key stakeholders to ensure high quality Ophthalmology can be practiced in the UK health service. International eye care practitioners may also find our guidelines useful to support their practice.