What Anesthesia Is Used For Laser Eye Surgery

For cataract surgery anesthesia is the medication used to numb the eye so you don t feel it during the procedure.

What anesthesia is used for laser eye surgery.

When the surgery is done other medications are used to reverse the effect of the anesthesia. Local anesthesia is most commonly used. Topical anesthesia using lidocaine topical gel is often used for quick procedures. General anesthesia is rarely needed for my patients.

You will also be monitored in this recovery phase. Local anesthesia has the advantage that it affects only the eye and tissues around it. Use of this laser has decreased with the availability of newer types and the ruby laser is not commonly used for laser airway surgery. Local anesthesia for cataract surgery.

There may be some measure of pressure as your surgeon proceeds with the surgical procedure and you may become acutely aware of the sounds in the. I operate almost exclusively at woodburn surgical center at inova fairfax hospital. The anesthesia does not require strict medical fitness as is required in general anesthesia. Since the eye is heavily supplied by nerves anesthesia is essential.

The ruby laser can easily penetrate the anterior structures of the eye. Lasik which stands for laser in situ keratomileusis is a popular surgery to correct vision in people who are nearsighted or farsighted or who have astigmatism. Since topical anesthesia requires cooperation from the patient general anesthesia is often used for children traumatic eye injuries or major orbitotomies and for apprehensive patients. This is not recommended for retinal surgery general anesthesia.

The anesthetizing eye drops are very similar to the numbing gels that your dentist will use on your gums prior to the start of a dental procedure. Learn more about the lasik eye. Learn more since cataract surgery is an outpatient procedure lasting only about an hour or less you will remain awake and receive local anesthesia in the form of eye drops or a needle based block most of the time. Hence local or general anesthesia is used most commonly for eye muscle surgery.

Moreover topical anesthesia may be used in cataract surgery and consists of numbing eye drops to the surface of the eye. It is used to photocoagulate vascular and pigmented retinal lesions. Surgery is performed on an outpatient basis and go home soon after surgery is completed. This is the strongest type of anesthesia and is most commonly used for surgeries that would otherwise be unbearably painful such as knee replacements and heart surgeries.

Absolutely no pain is felt during the lasik surgery. However drops alone do not provide sufficient patient comfort to be used during most other kinds of eye surgery. There are a few centers that use only topical numbing medication for the cataract surgery. By the way most adult eye surgery including cataracts are performed in similar fashion.