Retrobulbar anesthesia for cataract surgery: comparison of bupivacaine and bupivacaine/lidocaine combinations.

Three groups of 15 patients each were randomly assigned to receive a retrobulbar anesthetic block with 0.5% bupivacaine, 0.5% bupivacaine/2% lidocaine or 0.5% bupivacaine/2% lidocaine/1:100 000 epinephrine for unilateral cataract surgery. Hyaluronidase was added to each of the preparations, which were used in double-blind fashion. Lid and globe akinesia and corneal anesthesia were graded after 4 minutes of ocular massage and 36 minutes later (at the end of the procedure) to assess the rapidity of onset and the duration of action of the anesthetics. Overall, bupivacaine/lidocaine/epinephrine was the most effective in producing akinesia of the lids and globe. Bupivacaine alone was more effective than bupivacaine/lidocaine without epinephrine in producing akinesia, although it was slower in producing anesthesia. There was no difference between the groups in the frequency of pain or of the need for analgesia 6 hours postoperatively.