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Lidocaine jelly shows analgesic efficacy for vitrectomy

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Using 2% lidocaine jelly either with or without preoperative peroral morphine and dixyrazine provides patients with adequate analgesia during sutureless vitrectomy, a prospective study found. "Lack of akinesia does not prevent a successful surgical result," the study authors said.

Ioannis Theocharis, MD, and colleagues compared the intra- and postoperative pain between two groups of 23 patients each who underwent either 23- or 25-guage vitrectomy involving topical 2% lidocaine gel for analgesia. They also compared these patients' visual analog scale pain scores with a third group of 23 patients who underwent surgery involving peribulbar anesthesia.

"The goal of the operations was accomplished in all cases," the authors said.

Investigators observed no statistically significant differences in pain levels between the three groups, according to the study.

However, surgeons subjectively reported that vitrectomy involving topical lidocaine jelly was easier to perform using 23-gauge instruments compared with 25-gauge instruments (P = .0002), the authors noted.

The study is published in the September issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.