Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Mar;1(1):55-60.

Randomized trial of superficial peribulbar compared with conventional peribulbar anesthesia for cataract extraction

Abdul Kader M Mahfouz  1 , Hassan M Al Katheri
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Randomized trial of superficial peribulbar compared with conventional peribulbar anesthesia for cataract extraction

Abdul Kader M Mahfouz et al. Clin Ophthalmol. 2007 Mar.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluate efficacy of superficial peribulbar anesthesia for cataract extraction compared with conventional peribulbar anesthesia.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Al Nahdha Hospital (Tertiary Ophthalmic and ENT Hospital) and Magraby Eye & Ear Center, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

Methods: Patients scheduled for cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation were randomly divided into two groups according to anesthetic technique used. The first group patients were anesthetized using superficial peribulbar anesthesia, while second group patients were anesthetized using conventional peribulbar block. The efficacy of the blockade was judged by onset and degree of akinesia and volume of local anesthetic needed to obtain acceptable akinesia, sensation of pain during surgery, effect on intraocular pressure, degree of patient satisfaction, and incidence of complications.

Results: Nine hundred patients scheduled for cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation during the period of June 2003 and October 2006 were included in this study. Five hundred cases were anesthetized using superficial peribulbar anesthesia and four hundred cases were anesthetized using conventional peribulbar block. The two groups were comparable as regards age, weight, gender, duration of surgery, and degree of analgesia. Superficial peribulbar anesthesia provided faster onset, higher degree of akinesia with less volume of local anesthetics used, no need for supplementary reinjection, no effect on intraocular pressure, and better patient satisfaction score compared with conventional peribulbar anesthesia. There were no serious complications in both groups. The incidence of subconjunctival hemorrhage was significantly higher in superficial peribulbar group (18%) compared with conventional peribulbar block (0.5%).

Conclusion: Superficial peribulbar anesthesia is a safe, simple, quick to perform, and effective method of anesthesia for cataract surgery with better patient satisfaction, better akinesia, and comparable analgesia compared with conventional peribulbar block. Subconjunctival hemorrhage is a self-limited complication associated with this technique.

Keywords: cataract surgery; peribulbar block; regional anesthesia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of best akinesia between both groups after first injection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patient satisfaction.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pain assessment during surgery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Alwitry A, Thind G, Rubin A. Sub-Tenon’s anaesthesia- the local anaesthetic of choice for eye surgery. Br J Anaesth. 2001;87:520–1. - PubMed
    1. Di Donato A, Fontana C, Lancia F, et al. Efficacy and comparison of 0.5% levobupivacaine with 0.75% ropivacaine for peribulbar anaesthesia in cataract surgery. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2006;23:487–90. - PubMed
    1. Fitzpatrick R, Norquist JM, Jenkinson C, et al. A comparison of Rasch with Likert scoring to discriminate between patients’ evaluations of total hip replacement surgery. Qual Life Res. 2004;13:331–8. - PubMed
    1. Gunja N, Varshnev K. Brainstem anaesthesia after retrobulbar block: a rare cause of coma presenting to the emergency department. Emerg Med Australas. 2006;18:83–5. - PubMed
    1. Makuloluwa CA, Dharmarathna L. Circumcorneal perilimbal anesthesia in extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2000;26:1647–9. - PubMed