Evaluation of peribulbar anesthesia in encircling scleral buckle surgery and its postoperative pain course.

Background: Retrobulbar anesthesia is considered effective in ocular surgery but it can give rise to serious complications. We used peribulbar anesthesia with sub-Tenon's irrigation to perform encircling scleral buckling for retinal detachment, as it could reduce the complications caused by retrobulbar anesthesia. We also recorded the course of pain for 72 hours after surgery.

Methods: Thirty patients who were diagnosed with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were treated with an encircling scleral buckle. The surgery was performed with peribulbar anesthesia with occasional sub-Tenon's irrigation. We evaluated the patient's pain with a visual analogue scale after surgery at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours.

Results: In 24 cases (80%), the anesthesia was complete with the peribulbar block. Only 6 patients (20%) needed sub-Tenon's irrigation and four of them felt no pain after augmentation. Although all the surgical procedures proceeded without problem, two of the patients felt pain and were uncomfortable during the surgery. No serious complications occurred. The course of pain peaked 6 hours after surgery when 26 patients (86.7%) felt pain and 12 patients (40%) were uncomfortable (pain score > or = 5). Forty-eight hours after surgery, 9 patients (30%) still felt pain but no one felt uncomfortable.

Conclusion: Peribulbar anesthesia can be used safely in encircling scleral buckling for retinal detachment. The postoperative pain is maximal 6 hours after surgery and becomes mild (pain score < or = 4) after 48 hours.