Phacoemulsification Under Topical Anaesthesia Combined with Anxiolytic

Abstract

Background: Local anesthesia in ocular surgery is a technique that mostly used now. Many type of
procedures were applied including retrobulbar, peribulbar, subconjunctival and topical anesthesia.
Aim: To study the efficacy of tetracaine topical anesthesia technique combined with anxiolytic midazolam
in cataract surgery, and to test patient’s and surgeon’s conviction by this method.
Patients and Method: Prospective study of one hundred three patients with dense cataract in Al-Basira
eye center with mean age of 60.32 years (range: 50-70). Patients were 57 male and 46 female. Topical
anesthesia was encouraged by intravenous anxiolytic, midazolam 0.1 mg/kg weight given in the beginning
of surgery. We used a special patient’s pain scoring and intraoperative surgeon’s conviction score to analyze
the reliability of this method. The study period lasted from October 2019 to March 2020.
Result: All patients had peaceful success phacoemulsification with an average surgery time of 15-20
minutes. Minimal or no movement noticed during surgery. No need for more anesthesia as there were no
intolerable pain.
Conclusion: Cataract surgery can be safely and effectively done by topical anesthesia using this method.