Purpose: To compare the intraoperative pain scores during clear corneal phacoemulsification under no anesthesia, topical anesthesia, and topical plus intracameral anesthesia.
Setting: Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital and Eye Research Center, Chennai, India.
Methods: Seventy-five patients were randomized to have phacoemulsification under no anesthesia, topical anesthesia, or topical plus intracameral anesthesia. Uncooperative or illiterate patients and those with hard cataract, a shallow anterior chamber, or small pupils were excluded. A protocol was established for supplemental anesthesia in case of breakthrough pain during the surgery. Each patient was asked to grade the overall severity of intraoperative pain immediately after surgery on a 10-point visual analog scale. Also evaluated were the general discomfort during surgery, discomfort from the microscope lights, surgeon stress during surgery, and total surgical time. Comparison among the 3 groups was performed using an analysis of variance.
Results: No supplemental anesthesia was required in any group. No significant difference was noted in the mean scores of the subjective sensation of pain with or without topical anesthesia (P =.610). The mean scores of patient discomfort from the microscope lights and surgical time were also statistically insignificant. Patient discomfort and surgeon stress during surgery were significantly greater in the no-anesthesia group than in the topical and topical plus intracameral groups (P =.0235 and P = 0.0206, respectively).
Conclusion: No-anesthesia clear corneal phacoemulsification was performed by a highly experienced, skilled surgeon without causing an unacceptable level of pain. However, this technique is not suitable for every cataract surgeon or patient.