Peribulbar anesthesia for strabismus surgery

We prospectively studied 76 patients to analyze the effectiveness of peribulbar anesthesia during strabismus surgery. The patients, ranging in age from 14 to 77 years, were given anesthesia with standard preoperative medication and a peribulbar injection of a mixture of 2% mepivacaine hydrochloride and hyaluronidase. Only one of the 76 patients required an additional injection of anesthetic to achieve adequate anesthesia. No morbidity was associated with the peribulbar anesthesia. Local anesthesia, particularly retrobulbar anesthesia, has been used as an alternative technique in an attempt to reduce the morbidity and mortality associted with general anesthesia in ocular surgery, particularly in those patients with high-risk characteristics. Even with retrobulbar anesthesia, however, there is a risk of morbidity and, in rare cases, mortality. Our results suggest that the use of peribulbar anesthesia is a safe and effective means of anesthesia in strabismus surgery because of minimal associated morbidity.