[Can local anaesthesia still be justified in intraocular surgery? (author's transl)].

Even modern long acting local anaesthetics can not avoid hazards encountered by using local anaesthetics. That these hazards are unavoidable by their nature is being shown by detailed analysis of facts conditioning the status of corpus vitreous on the open globe. These facts need not be identical with those that change the intraocular pressure in the closed eye. Intraocular pressure is no useful criterium when the eye is open. General anaesthesia in NLA and non depolarizing agents is presently the safest means not to leave corpus protruding facts to chance. There are no other disadvantages of the method as compared to local anaesthesia. Own experience in 2000 cataract operations confirm the thesis.