Topical-intracameral anesthesia in manual small incision cataract surgery: A pilot study in a Tertiary Eye Care Center in Africa.

Background: Cataract remains a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) is currently practiced as the technique of choice in Sub-Saharan Africa to reduce the backlog of cataract blindness. Optimal pain control during surgery remains a challenge to cataract surgeons.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of the use of aqueous topical/intracameral anesthesia in MSICS.

Materials And Methods: In this hospital-based case series, consecutive patients presenting at the eye clinic with operable cataract and willing to have surgery were enrolled. Baseline sociodemographics (age, sex, and occupation), type of cataract by morphology, pain perception, and surgeons experience were recorded. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The surgeries were performed on 30 eyes of 16 (53.3%) males, and 14 (46.7%) females (sex ratio, 1:0.9) who were aged 60.3 ± 16.32 standard deviation (SD) (95% confidence interval [CI] of mean; 53.94-66.13) (range; 20-98 years). Using the visual analog scale, the mean pain score was 2.7 SD ± 2.215 (1.87-3.53 95% CI). There was no correlation between degree of pain perception and gender (P = 0.806) or age (P = 0.388). Patient's cooperation was excellent in 22 (73.3%) of patients. Intraoperative complications occurred in 3 (10%) of patients.

Conclusion: The mean pain score in this study is low. There is no correlation between perception of pain with gender or age. Surgeons experience is excellent in most of the cases. This method of anesthesia in MSCIS is adequate for patient's comfort and safe cataract surgery.