A comparison between topical and retrobulbar anesthesia in 27-gauge vitrectomy for vitreous floaters: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: To compare the safety and efficacy of topical anesthesia versus retrobulbar anesthesia in 27-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for vitreous floaters. METHODS: 30 patients with vitreous floaters were randomized into Group T (topical anesthesia, proparacaine eye drop) and Group R (retrobulbar anesthesia), and underwent 27-gauge PPV. A 5-point visual analogue pain scale (VAPS) was used to assess patients’ pain experience of anesthesia and surgery procedure (during surgery, 2 h and 1 day after surgery). RESULTS: The VAPS of anesthesia procedure was 1.27 ± 0.59 for patients in Group R, while it was all 0 for patients in Group T (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference for VAPS during surgery (Group T: 1.13 ± 0.74, Group R: 0.67 ± 0.62, p = 0.67), 2 h (Group T: 0.80 ± 1.01, Group R: 0.67 ± 0.62, p = 0.67) and 1 day (Group T: 0.20 ± 0.41, Group R: 0.27 ± 0.46, p = 0.68) after surgery between these two groups. Only one patient (6.7%) in Group T required additional topical anesthesia during the surgery. Most of the patients reported the pain experience came from initial trocar insertion in both groups. None of the patients required post operative analgesia in both groups. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were noted in both groups. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that topical anesthesia is a safe and effective anesthetic approach for patients with floaters who underwent 27-gauge PPV. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03049163. Registered 8 February 2017. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12886-018-0838-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.