Background and objective: To eliminate sharp needles when administering local anesthesia to the eye in order to reduce serious complications caused by needle perforation.
Patients and methods: After topical anesthesia, limbal conjunctival incision, and sub-Tenon's dissection, a retrobulbar irrigation of an equal mixture of bupivacaine (5 mg/ml) and lidocaine (20 mg/ml) was given using a blunt cannula.
Results: The technique was used in both vitreoretinal surgery (n = 70) and anterior segment surgery (n = 235) with good analgesic and akinetic effects. No serious adverse were noted.
Conclusion: This proved to be a safe and efficient technique that abandoned the use of sharp needles.