A collaborative regional ocular anesthesia training program: successes and failures

To describe a collaborative effort of the departments of ophthalmology and anesthesiology to teach anesthesiology residents regional ocular anesthesia; to detect any differences in positive or negative outcomes after blocks performed by anesthesiology residents versus blocks performed by ophthalmology residents.

Prospective descriptive, study.

Outpatient surgery in a university-affiliated veterans affairs hospital.

614 patients requiring elective ocular surgery.

Outcomes from patients who underwent regional anesthesia performed by ophthalmology residents were compared to outcomes from patients who received anesthesia from anesthesiology residents.

A detailed description of the collaborative teaching program in ocular anesthesia is presented. Ophthalmology residents performed the majority of regional ocular blocks (87% vs. 13%). There was no statistical difference in the incidence of negative outcomes, such as retrobulbar hemorrhage, between ophthalmology residents and anesthesiology residents (3/534 vs. 1/80) or in the incidence of successful blocks (90% for ophthalmology residents vs. 88% for anesthesiology residents).

Regional ocular anesthetic techniques can be safely and successfully taught to residents in anesthesiology.