An evaluation of topical and local anesthesia in phacoemulsification.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the comparative efficacy of topical and local anesthesia in phacoemulsification.


METHODS
The medical records of 186 men and women between the ages of 45-85 years, who underwent elective cataract surgery by phacoemulsification technique, under the care of one surgeon, over a period of one year, from March 1999-March 2000 were reviewed.


RESULTS
Of 186 patients who underwent small incision, self-healing phacoemulsification cataract surgery, 124 received topical and 62 local anesthesia. The most common cataract types were nuclear sclerosis. The duration of surgery with topical anesthesia was shorter. Sutures and eye padding were more frequently applied for procedures done under local anesthesia. Uncorrected visual acuity in the first post-op week was between 20/20-20/50 for 53.6% of the cases done under topical compared to 30.9% in local anesthesia. A similar trend was noted in the visual acuity one month post operatively.


CONCLUSIONS
The uncorrected visual acuity improves faster and the duration of surgery is shorter when topical anesthesia is used.
Rizvi
Z
Z
Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi.
Rehman
T
T
Malik
S
S
Qureshi
A
A
Paul
L
L
Qureshi
K
K
Memon
S
S
Rafi
S
S
Ali
A
A
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000379:methods*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity
D000779:Anesthetics, Local