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• Intraoperative visual experiences in cataract patients can be both pleasant and unpleasant
  Kah-Guan Au Eong
  Published on: 9 May 2005

• Published on: 9 May 2005

  Intraoperative visual experiences in cataract patients can be both pleasant and unpleasant

  • Kah-Guan Au Eong, Ophthalmologist
  • Other Contributors:
    • Colin S.H. Tan, Chia-Liang Ang, Sheldon S.G. Lee, R Venkatesh, R Muralikrishnan, Gary L. Fanning, Chandra M. Kumar

  Dear Editor,

  We read with interest Zia et al.’s article titled "Only rarely seen in dreams - visual experiences during cataract surgery" which highlights a professional artist’s and a poet’s respective renditions of their visual experiences during phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation under local anaesthesia.[1] While it is unclear from the report whether the artist’s elaborate drawing resembling...

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  Dear Editor,

  We read with interest Zia et al.’s article titled "Only rarely seen in dreams - visual experiences during cataract surgery" which highlights a professional artist’s and a poet’s respective renditions of their visual experiences during phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation under local anaesthesia.[1] While it is unclear from the report whether the artist’s elaborate drawing resembling a "colourful monkey" was associated with a pleasant or frightening visual experience, it appears from the poem that the poet’s visual experience was most probably pleasant and delightful.

  We have previously reported that the visual experience during cataract surgery under local anaesthesia can be frightening in up to 16.2% of patients.[2-8] The anxiety that may result from the intraoperative visual experience is clinically significant because it may cause patients to become uncooperative during the procedure and trigger a sympathetic stress response. This may result in hypertension, tachycardia, ischaemic strain on the heart, hyperventilation and acute panic attacks. These stress responses are particularly undesirable in cataract patients who are often elderly, with systemic co-morbidities such as hypertension and ischaemic heart disease.[2,9] The frightening experience may also lower patients’ satisfaction with the surgery.[10-11]

  The poet’s experience reported by Zia et al reminds us that the intraoperative visual experience during cataract surgery can be pleasant to some patients.[1] In fact, our experience has shown that the majority of patients find their visual experiences pleasant and in some cases, the visual experience actually increases their satisfaction with the surgery. In a recently reported randomised controlled trial conducted in India involving 304 patients who underwent phacoemulsification under either topical anaesthesia (TA) or retrobulbar anaesthesia (RA), the visual experience was reported by 106 out of 154 (68.8%) TA and 102 out of 150 (68%) RA patients to be pleasant and by 47 (30.5%) TA and 46 (30.7%) RA patients to be unpleasant.[12] In a separate unpublished study conducted in Singapore, 8 of 98 patients (8.2%) who had phacoemulsification under TA reported that their satisfaction with the surgery increased because of their visual experiences, whereas only 2 patients (2.0%) experienced a decrease in satisfaction. The remaining 88 patients (89.8%) reported that their visual experience did not affect their satisfaction with the surgery. Some of the patients who found their visual experiences pleasant commented on the "fantastic colours" that they experienced. In another similar study on patients who had cataract surgery under RA, 9 of 152 patients (5.9%) experienced an increase in satisfaction, whereas 5 patients (3.3%) felt that their satisfaction had decreased as a result of the visual experiences and the remaining 138 patients (90.8%) experienced no change in their satisfaction.

  An additional observation is from videotaped interviews conducted by one of us (CMK) with several leading ophthalmic anaesthesia providers in the United States who had cataract surgery under local anaesthesia themselves. The video recordings were made during the annual scientific meeting of the Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society held in Chicago in October 2004. The videos clearly showed they reported seeing pleasant and beautiful images during their surgery.

  In summary, patients may experience pleasant or unpleasant visual sensations during cataract surgery under local anaesthesia. Further investigation is warranted to help ascertain how we can reduce the possibility of the experience being unpleasant or frightening.

  References

  1. Zia R, Schlichtenbrede FC, Greaves B, Saeed MU. "Only rarely seen in dreams" - visual experiences during cataract surgery. Br J Ophthalmol 2005;89:247-8.

  2. Au Eong KG. 6th Yahya Cohen lecture: visual experience during cataract surgery. Ann Acad Med Singapore 2002;31:666-74.

  3. Prasad N, Kumar CM, Patil BB, Dowd TC. Subjective visual experience during phacoemulsification cataract surgery under sub-Tenon's block. Eye 2003;17:407-9.

  4. Au Eong KG. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists cataract surgery guidelines: what can patients see with their operated eye during cataract surgery? Eye 2002;16:109-10.

  5. Au Eong KG, Lim TH, Lee HM, Yong VSH. Subjective visual experience during phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation using retrobulbar anaesthesia. J Cataract Refract Surg 2000;26:842-6.

  6. Au Eong KG, Low CH, Heng WJ, Aung T, Lim ATH, Ho SH et al. Subjective visual experience during phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation under topical anaesthesia. Ophthalmology 2000;107:248- 50.

  7. Au Eong KG, Lee HM, Lim ATH, Voon LW, Yong VSH. Subjective visual experience during extracapsular cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation under retrobulbar anaesthesia. Eye 1999;13:325-8.

  8. Tranos PG, Wickremasinghe SS, Sinclair N, Foster PJ, Asaria R, Harris ML et al. Visual perception during phacoemulsification surgery under topical and regional anaesthesia. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 2003;81:118- 22.

  9. Tan CSH, Rengaraj V, Au Eong KG. Visual experiences of cataract surgery. J Cataract Refract Surg 2003;29:1453-4.

  10. Leo SW, Au Eong KG. Comments on anaesthesia for cataract surgery. J Cataract Refract Surg 2003;29:633-5.

  11. Leo SW, Au Eong KG, Rengaraj V, Radhakrishnan M. The Misericordia Health Centre cataract comfort study. Can J Ophthalmol 2003;38:23-4.

  12. Rengaraj V, Radhakrishnan M, Au Eong KG, Saw SM, Srinivasan A, Mathew J et al. Visual experience during phacoemulsification under topical versus retrobulbar anaesthesia: results of a prospective, randomised, controlled, trial. Am J Ophthalmol 2004;138:641-8.

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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