Abstract:  Objective  To investigate the clinical value of two different anesthesia methods in complicated cataract phacoemulsification surgery. Design Randomized controlled clinical study. Participants 82 patients (82 eyes) underwent phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation surgery for day-care unit complex cataracts at the Quanzhou Women′s and Children′s Hospital from May 2022 to September 2023. Methods In the treatment group, surface anesthesia combined with 0.5% lidocaine for anterior chamber anesthesia was performed. In the control group, surface anesthesia combined with 2% lidocaine postglobular anesthesia was performed. The degree of intraoperative pain is graded using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Main Outcome Measures Intraoperative pain and phacoemulsification operation time. Results The age, preoperative intraocular pressure, number of corneal endothelial cells, and composition of cataract types were balanced between the two groups of patients (all P>0.05). The control group had a surgical time of (23.63±4.88) minutes, while the treatment group had a surgical time of (18.78±3.22) minutes (t=5.307, P=0.000). In the control group, there were 7 cases of mild to moderate pain during surgery, and 0 case of severe pain; There were 5 cases of mild to moderate pain and 0 case of severe pain in the treatment group (χ2=0.502, P=0.778). One month after surgery, the decrease in corneal endothelium compared to preoperative levels was (229.27±65.00) cells/mm2 in the control group and (243.20±41.19) cells/mm2 in the treatment group (t=1.159, P=0.250). Conclusions The difference between the two different anesthesia methods is not significant. The lidocaine anterior chamber anesthesia has the advantages of quick effect, less operation and fewer complications. It is an ideal anesthesia method for complicated cataract surgery.

Key words: Complicated cataract, Intraocular anesthesia