TOPICAL VERSUS PERIBULBAR ANESTHESIA IN CATARACT-SURGERY

Purpose: To compare the use of topical anesthesia with that of peribul bar anesthesia in cataract surgery. Setting: Quinze-Vingts Hospital, P aris, France. Methods: This prospective study comprised 45 patients wh o had phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in both ey es with 1 to 9 months between surgeries. Each patient had peribulbar a nesthesia for one surgery and topical anesthesia for the other. The an esthesia method for the first eye was randomly selected. After surgery , patients were asked to rate their pain and whether they preferred on e anesthesia technique over the other. Results: When topical anesthesi a was given, 82.2% of patients required no intravenous medications. Ov erall, 62.2% preferred topical over peribulbar anesthesia, with most p atients citing the lack of periocular injection as the reason. Conclus ion: Despite the increased technical difficulty, topical anesthesia pr oved an effective alternative to peribulbar anesthesia for cataract su rgery that avoids the risks of periocular injection and reduces the ne ed for intravenous medications.