Special communication for deaf patients during topical anesthesia cataract surgery

PURPOSE: To report a new method for communication with deaf patients during topical anesthetic cataract surgery. OBSERVATION: Due to communication difficulty, topical anesthesia was traditionally considered by many cataract surgeons as a contraindication for deaf patients. Retrobulbar/peribulbar-block anesthesia or general anesthesia were recommended. This paper reports a new way of communication using face-tapping and hand-pressing. It worked well with three deaf patients under conventional topical anesthetic cataract surgery. CONCLUSION AND IMPORTANCE: The face-tapping and hand-pressing communication technique with deaf patients under conventional topical anesthetic cataract surgery seemed to work well. Topical anesthesia combined with this “touching language” could be an alternative to traditional local block and general anesthesia for deaf patients undergoing cataract surgery. Large studies are recommended to confirm its safety and validation.