Cataract Extraction under Combined Local and General Analgesia Using Phenazocine.

THE recent introduction of a powerful general analgesic drug, phenazocine (" Narphen"), with a potency stated to be seven to ten times that of morphine (Eckenhoff, 1959) has enabled us to make use of its unique properties in ophthalmic surgery. The drug possesses fewer undesirable side-effects on respiration and on the circulation than morphine or pethidine, and does not produce vomiting, an important factor in ophthalmic surgery. One of us has reported 150 cases in which it was used as an adjunct to general anaesthesia (Thomas, 1962a), and 120 ophthalmic cases, which included 102 cataract extractions (Thomas, 1962b). We have now increased this series to 200 cases of cataract extraction and 54 others (Table I). The ages of the patients were between 23 and 93 years (average 72-1), and the majority of the older patients (104 over 70 years) presented the common picture of failing circulation with hypertension, and chronic pulmonary disease.