PRILOCAINE - AN OLD ANESTHETIC AGENT AND A NEW OPHTHALMIC PROCEDURE

We present a new local anesthetic technique for ophthalmic surgery tha t reduces the risks associated with retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthe sia. This method uses topical proparacaine plus 1.5 mL of prilocaine ( 3%) with felypressin injected into the subconjunctival (sub-Tenon's) s pace. Of 5210 consecutive adult patients in whom the technique was use d, all demonstrated adequate analgesia. Sixty-three (1.2%) of the eyes required supplemental analgesia, provided by a single injection of pr ilocaine (0.5 mL). Ecchymosis and subconjunctival hemorrhage developed in 63 (1.2%) of the eyes. There were no instances of ptosis.