Anesthesia for eyes

Many different forms of anesthesia are used inside and around the eye for the various procedures and surgeries. Surface related surgeries such as LASIK or PRK may only require the instillation of anesthetic eye drops for patients to develop comfort, whereas more involved surgeries such as cataract surgery or glaucoma surgery sometimes require long-lasting injections of powerful anesthetics inside and/or around the eyes. The most modern way of performing cataract surgery does not require anesthetic injections and pain can easily controlled with the use of anesthetic eye drops. Other than in children, the mentally disabled, and very anxious and uncooperative patients, general anesthesia is not commonly indicated for most adults having ocular surgery or procedures.