ABSTRACT

Ophthalmic anesthesia has evolved over the decades into a sophisticated art. When properly applied it provides comfort to the patient, allays anxiety, and allows the safe execution of delicate eye surgery. While the retrobulbar and peribulbar block have been a standard for many decades, newer techniques, such as subtenon’s blocks, and more recently topical anesthesia, have gained in popularity over the past several years. These less-invasive techniques have been promoted in order to reduce the risks of complications while still achieving adequate patient comfort. Most surgeon observe the benefits of akinesia and superior ocular anesthesia afforded with injectional orbital anesthesia against its rare, although potentially devastating, complications. In this review, we discussed all of the advantages and disadvantages of local injection anesthesia in ophthalmic surgery by current literature knowledge.