• Treatment surgery
• visual perception

I read with interest the report by Malik et al1 illustrating paintings by a single patient representing his visual experiences during and after cataract surgery. The authors mention that ‘their visual experiences during cataract surgery remain somewhat of a mystery’ and ‘it is generally believed that the majority of patients undergoing cataract surgery, under local anaesthesia, experience visual perception’.1 The authors further add that ‘it has also been postulated that these may be pleasant or unpleasant experiences’. …