Blood loss from conjunctival wounds: a comparison of halothane and trichloroethylene.

Forty-eight patients aged 2 to 18 years underwent surgery for the correction of convergent strabismus. Anaesthesia was maintained using nitrous oxide, oxygen and halothane in 24; the remainder received nitrous oxide, oxygen and trichloroethylene. Shed blood was collected on to cotton wool pledgets and the quantity calculated after lysis of the red cells with liberation of oxyhaemoglobin. The loss was significantly greater in the trichloroethylene group (0.17 ml ±0.15) than in the halothane group (0.09 ml ± 0.06). The differences between the two agents are of little importance in the surgery of squint, but it is suggested that halothane is to be preferred for intraocular surgery.