• K Bayerl, K A Boost, A Wolf, A Kampik, M Schaumberger, and C Haritoglou.
• Augenklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Mathildenstr. 8, 80336, München, Deutschland, katharina.bayerl@med.uni-muenchen.de.
• Ophthalmologe. 2014 Dec 1;111(12):1194-200.

PurposeSome studies have shown a significant reduction of postoperative pain by additional regional anesthesia in 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (20-G-ppV) with the patient under general anesthesia (AN). This observational study examined whether the advantages of additional retrobulbar anesthesia can also be observed with 23-gauge vitrectomy in AN.Material And MethodsSurgery was performed in 130 patients under AN of which 88 received an additional retrobulbar block (group AN+) and 42 patients were treated without additional injection of retrobulbar anesthesia (group AN) using bupivacaine 0.5 % and mepivacaine 1%. The AN was performed with fentanyl and propofol. Postoperatively, the subjective patient pain was recorded using a numeric scale and the use and amount of analgesic drugs in the postoperative course were monitored.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 53.6 ± 16.8 years, 52.6% of the patients were male, 31.5% were staged as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) level I, 52.3% as ASA II and 15.4% as ASA III. At no time did the study show a statistically significant difference in pain frequency, intensity and analgesic consumption. However, the results suggest that patients in the AN+ group tended to experienced delayed and more intense postoperative pain, which is also reflected in the postoperative use of pain relief medications.ConclusionsThis study did not show any advantage by additional retrobulbar anesthesia regarding postoperative analgesia compared to an adequate treatment with peripheral acting analgesics during surgery and the early postoperative period.

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