Hyaluronidase has been gaining interest because it reduces tissue edema and fibrosis. Although rare, hyaluronidase has been shown to cause allergic reactions. A few cases of allergic reactions following hyaluronidase administration have been reported. Most of the described patients presented allergic reactions after peribulbar anesthesia for eye surgery. In this report, we describe three patien...

Sneezing or the sternutatory reflex, inborn in most animals, is a primitive neuromuscular physiological response to irritation. Sometimes, unusual sneezing occurs during and immediately after a peribulbar block, which is generally performed with a local anaesthetic in awake patients. We present a case report of an awake elderly male who experienced unexpected continuous sneezing immediately aft...

AIMS To determine the relation between pH of anaesthetic solutions and patient perception of pain with peribulbar injection of local anaesthesia. METHODS This prospective randomised controlled double blind pilot study involved 60 consecutive patients who received a peribulbar block with either a standard acidic local anaesthetic of 5 ml 2% lignocaine and 5 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine (solution A),...

INTRODUCTION This study aims to describe the preferences of ophthalmic anaesthesia for cataract extraction among ophthalmologists in Singapore. METHODS A nationwide questionnaire survey of all cataract surgeons in institutional and private practice in Singapore was conducted in August 2004. RESULTS The response rate was 61.1 percent (88 out of 144 eligible ophthalmologists surveyed). Phacoe...

We have studied the pharmacokinetics and effects of i.m. alfentanil as premedication for peribulbar block in 90 patients undergoing elective day-case cataract surgery. We compared alfentanil 12.5 micrograms kg-1 injected into the deltoid (n = 30) or gluteal muscle (n = 30) 15 min before the peribulbar block, and placebo (n = 30). The alfentanil concentrations were significantly greater in the d...

Twelve thousand regional anaesthetics for cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation surgery were administered by one anaesthetist over a period of 52 months in a free-standing outpatient surgical facility. The ophthalmologist, who did all the operations, assessed the quality of the blocks using an objective scoring system which is described. The first 3,595 patients had retrobulbar ...

AIM Vitrectomies are performed either under general anesthesia (GA), local anesthesia (LA), or a combination of both. Postoperative pain is expected to be less in patients with LA because of prolonged action of the local anaesthetic. Pre-emptive analgesia is based on the idea that analgesia initiated before a nociceptive event will be more effective than analgesia commenced afterwards. The auth...