Pain Following the Use of Anesthesia Formulation Among Individuals Undergoing Cataract Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose To assess the pain intensity of two intracameral anesthetic solutions in patients undergoing cataract surgery and evaluate the factors influencing the patients' postoperative activities. Methods Sixty-two patients undergoing cataract surgery were randomized to receive the study drug - a manufactured solution of 0.02% tropicamide/0.31% phenylephrine/1% lidocaine (Mydrane) or a traditional anesthetic formulation - solution of 1% lidocaine/0.025% adrenaline as an intraocular anesthetic. The pain intensity was assessed by Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain) and Brief Pain Inventory-short form (BPI) on the next day after the surgery. Results The mean pain score measured preoperatively with VAS Pain was 0.34 in Mydrane group and 0.09 in the reference group (p = 0.51). There were no statistically significant differences between the two anesthetic methods with respect to pain intensity during the surgery (p = 0.94) and the influence of pain during the last 24 h on activity (p = 0.79), mood (p = 0.31), social contacts (p = 0.29), sleep (p = 0.5) and the joy of life (p = 0.39). Additionally, there was no statistically significant influence of age, sex, lateralization, co-existing ophthalmological diseases (p = 0.98) and post-operative complications (p = 0.4) on the experienced pain measured during the surgery and in the last 24 h. Conclusions New commercially available intraocular anesthetic solution (Mydrane (TM)) seems to be as effective as off-label traditional anesthetic formulation, in reducing the pain experienced during cataract surgery under topical anesthesia.