Purpose: To compare the combined levels of comfort, the presence of complications and the results of phacotrabeculectomy surgery obtained with 2 different forms of anaesthesia: topical contact anaesthesia and peribulbar injected anaesthesia. Procedures: In total, 120 consecutive patients undergoing phacotrabeculectomy were randomly assigned to each anaesthesia group. The patients were asked to rate their pain level on a 5-point scale at 3 time points during the procedure. Early and late surgical complications and clinical parameters of success were evaluated. Results: Administration of contact anaesthesia was clearly associated with less pain than injection of peribulbar anaesthesia. The amount of pain or discomfort experienced during or following surgery did not differ between the patient groups. No long-term differences in the tensional results were observed between the groups of the study. Conclusion: The application of contact anaesthesia in the phacotrabeculectomy procedure provides a level of comfort and safety that is comparable to that achieved with peribulbar anaesthesia. Likewise, patients that received contact anaesthesia were as comfortable as patients that received the peribulbar injection of anaesthesia, not only during the immediate postoperative period, but also in terms of their tensional results and their visual acuity in the mid and long term.

Keywords:
Phacotrabeculectomy, Glaucoma surgery, Contact anaesthetic technique, Topical anaesthesia
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© 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel
2008
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