Comparing the Quality of Topical Anesthesia with Warmed or Cold Tetracaine in Cataract Surgery

Abstract

Background: Topical anesthesia in cataract surgery have several benefits compared with other methods of anesthesia; but there are not any studies aimed to assess the temperature of drug used for topical anesthesia. One of the most prevalent used drugs is tetracaine. The aim of this study was determining the quality of topical anesthesia with warmed or cold tetracaine in cataract surgery. Methods: This clinical trial study was done in Feyz hospital, Isfahan, Iran, in 2012. The target population was patients underwent cataract surgery with topical anesthesia. 60 patients with inclusion criteria were selected and randomly divided in two groups. In the first group warmed tatracaine and in the second one cold tetracaine were used. All data such as demographic and clinical findings, as well as side effects, such as pain, urticaria…, and patients satisfaction were recorded in a researcher-made questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software. Findings: According to t-test, the pain during surgery in cold (0.70 ± 0.23) and warm (0.27 ± 0.10) tetracaine was not statistically difference between the groups (P = 0.09). The postoperative pain was not statistically difference between the cold (1.13 ± 0.32) and warm 1.00 ± 0.27) tetracaine groups, too (P = 0.75). Conclusion: According to results of this study, using warmed tetracane have a positive effect for decrease of postoperative pain and increase of patients satisfaction; so, using warmed tetracaine to 40 C0 was benefit for patients.

Keywords

• Cataract
• Warmed tetracaine
• Cold tetracaine