Topical anesthesiaPainless Cataract Surgery without NeedlesIn the last few years, tremendous advances have been made in the safety and effectiveness of cataract surgery. Anesthesia is one of the areas of greatest innovation. We can now state that cataract surgery is painless and pleasant for a majority of patients.Many years ago, people were put to sleep for cataract surgery. This represented too great a medical risk for many patients and for the past 2-3 decades, most surgery has been performed under local anesthesia. This traditionally involved an injection of medicine behind or along the side of the eye. Local anesthesia is still used satisfactorily for many patients. In the 1990's painless eye surgery was achieved with the use of topical anesthesia. We now can perform cataract surgery with intraocular lens implants without any needle injection in or around the eye. Comfort and freedom from pain is achieved with topically applied anesthetic drops. Topical anesthesia is a great comfort advantage for patients and is an improvement in safety as it reduces risks related to needle injections. Please click if you would like to schedule an appointment.
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