European journal of ophthalmology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of sedation requirements for cataract surgery under topical anesthesia or retrobulbar block.
Topical anesthesia is increasingly being used for cataract surgery. However, it is believed that topical anesthesia causes an increased risk of intraoperative complications from unrestricted eye movement and insufficient pain control and more need for sedation. It is difficult to compare pain and anxiety experienced by individual patients; therefore, the authors used the method of patient-controlled sedation to determine whether there is a difference in sedation requirements under topical or retrobulbar anesthesia. ⋯ Sedation requirements were similar for cataract surgery under topical and retrobulbar anesthesia.