Trends and complications of local anaesthesia in cataract surgery: an 8-year analysis of 12 992 patients

BackgroundCataract surgery has progressed from large incision to smaller incisions, which do not require sutures. Anaesthesia too has progressed from general anaesthesia to local anaesthesia to topical anaesthesia. The ideal anaesthesia for cataract surgery would be one that is easy to administer, provides adequate pain relief during surgery and is associated with fewer complications.AimsThis study was done to find out the most suitable anaesthesia for patients with fewer complications and also to look at the trend of anaesthesia being used.MethodsA retrospective analysis was done of patients who underwent cataract surgery from 2007 to 2014 in Hospital Melaka. Data were obtained from the National Eye Database and analysed using SPSS. Trend of types of anaesthesia used and the associated complications with each were studied.ResultsThe most frequently used anaesthesia was topical anaesthesia, which showed an upward trend followed by subtenon in turn showing a downward trend. Subtenon anaesthesia was associated with more intraoperative and postoperative complications while topical anaesthesia was associated with fewer complications.ConclusionsTopical anaesthesia has shown a steady increase in usage and is the ideal anaesthesia, which has been associated with fewer complications.