Eye pain after vitreoretinal surgery: a prospective study of 185 patients.
PURPOSE: To assess subjective levels of eye pain, nausea, and sedation following vitreoretinal surgery performed with intravenous sedation and retrobulbar anesthesia. METHODS: One hundred eighty-five consecutive patients who underwent vitreoretinal surgery and had access to a standard postoperative analgesic regimen prospectively quantified levels of eye pain, nausea, and sedation 2 hours and 5 hours after surgery by using a standard visual analog scale. Analgesic requests were recorded. Responses were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-six percent of patients had some eye pain after vitreoretinal surgery; 48% of patients requested an analgesic within 5 hours after surgery. Twenty-seven percent of patients required narcotic analgesia. There was a significant relationship between the presence of eye pain and surgery duration of >2 hours (P < 0.02). Sixteen percent of patients had postoperative nausea, which more likely occurred in those who received a narcotic analgesic (P < 0.02). Eighty percent of patients had postoperative sedation, which more likely occurred in those who received a narcotic analgesic (P < 0.02). CONCLUSION: One half of individuals undergoing vitreoretinal surgery, especially those who have lengthy procedures (>2 hours), will request pain medication within 5 hours after surgery; one half of these patients will need narcotic analgesia for pain control. Narcotics may result in nausea and sedation.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Vitreous Body
- Time Factors
- Retinal Diseases
- Prospective Studies
- Pain, Postoperative
- Pain Measurement
- Ophthalmology & Optometry
- Nausea
- Middle Aged
- Male
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Vitreous Body
- Time Factors
- Retinal Diseases
- Prospective Studies
- Pain, Postoperative
- Pain Measurement
- Ophthalmology & Optometry
- Nausea
- Middle Aged
- Male