Comparison of one-injection-site peribulbar anesthesia and retrobulbar anesthesia.

One hundred patients having elective cataract surgery were evaluated in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded study comparing retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthesia. Patients were divided into two study groups and evaluated on three criteria felt to be critical to intraocular surgery. Results showed that the efficacy of the one-injection-site peribulbar block was similar to that of the retrobulbar block for all three criteria. Because the one-injection-site anesthetic is administered outside the muscle cone, the potential for optic nerve and central nervous system complications should be minimized.