Cataract surgery what kind of anesthesia

This is the least risky form of anesthesia and most patients do extremely well with topical anesthesia and some intravenous sedation. Sometimes, medication is injected around the eye socket to numb the eye and paralyze eye and eyelid movement. These injections carry their own risk, however, and are being used less frequently. On occasion, general anesthesia may be needed. For the same patient, different surgeons may select different techniques of anesthesia. The skill and experience of surgeon, co-operation of patient, type of cataract, associated ocular co-morbidity like corneal opacity, pupillary dilatation, etc.

Studies have showed different trends in different countries. A national postal survey was conducted in in the United Kingdom for choice of local anesthetic techniques. In Oman, over the last few years, anesthesia for cataract surgery has shifted from general to local anesthesia.

National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Oman J Ophthalmol v. Oman J Ophthalmol. Rikin Shah. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence: Dr. E-mail: moc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Support Center Support Center. External link. There is a very small chance but potentially serious risk of bleeding behind the eye and a rare chance of inadvertent penetration of the back of the eye with the injection needle. The topical anesthesia has lower risk but does not provide quite as deep of an anesthesia although the overwhelming majority of people having cataract surgery with a topical anesthetic do not experience any significant pain during the procedure.

Do I really even need cataract surgery? When you have topical anesthesia it is important for you to try and stare straight ahead at the light in the microscope above you. Most people accomplish this quite easily. Along with the anesthetic to the eye, in most cataract surgeries, an anesthetist will also give you some mild sedative medication through an IV. Despite often getting the exact same dose of sedative on the second surgery you have significant less amnesia the second time.

This is caused by a quick build up in tolerance to the medication - the same phenomena that drives drug addiction. Many people when they have their second surgery feel that the surgery was significantly different than the first time even though it was done exactly the same. The reason is just that you remembered more the second time. Can I cure my cataracts with eye drops? On rare occasions people need to have general anesthesia to have their cataracts removed.

For everyone else who can cooperate it is generally not worth the risks, which includes death, to put people to sleep for a surgery that is easily done under a local anesthetic.

At Shore Eye Associates we use the topical medication along with IV sedation for almost all of our cataract surgeries. We believe that it gives the best mixture of a comfortable procedure with the lowest degree of risk. Click to see more about our Cataract Surgery services. What are the most dangerous sports for eye injurie Is it wise to have cataract surgery if you have Ma About the author.