title: Which colours are seen by the patient during cataract surgery? Results of an intraoperative interview.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discover what cataract patients see during phacoemulsification and if these light phenomena influence their anxiety levels during surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 200 patients were interviewed intraoperatively at the Eye Hospital, Petrisberg, Trier, Germany. The quality of the visual experiences was described and if these were pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. Systemic sedation was noted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 200 patients (209 eyes): 88 were men (91 eyes; 44%) and 112 were women (118 eyes; 56%). Median age (years): men (71), women (70). Mean operating time was 8 min. 49/209 (23%) were not anxious before and during surgery. 110/209 (52%) were more anxious before than during surgery, 50/209 (24%) were still anxious during surgery, 27/209 (13%) got sedation with midazolam (1-5 mg). Colours in descending order seen: blue, red, pink, yellow, green, purple, turquois, and orange. The most dominant colour combination was red/blue. Structures were seen by 162/209 (78%). Most (61%) intraoperative visual experiences were pleasant, 38% were neutral, and 1% found them transiently unpleasant. Three patients felt blinded by the light of the operating microscope.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The experience of colours and other light phenomena was pleasant for most patients during phacoemulsification under topical anaesthesia. They occur spontaneously when the patient is fixating on the operating light. They are not dependent on the individual or environment. Sedation only in 13%. Direct questioning for visual sensations by the operating surgeon may lead to less need for sedation and lead to less side effects for elderly and multimorbidity people postoperatively. The surgeon can use this knowledge to reassure patients during surgery.
authors.affiliation: Eye Hospital, Petrisberg, Trier, Germany.|University Eye Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.affiliation: Eye Hospital, Petrisberg, Trier, Germany.|Department für Augenheilkunde, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulze Schwering
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D016292:Procedural Sedation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D008874:Midazolam / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000523:psychology*; D010719:Phosphenes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D008874:Midazolam