A Substantive Narrative Review on the Usage of Lidocaine in Cataract Surgery

Cataracts are a disease that causes a gradual decrease in visual prowess and requires surgery when the symptoms progress to an abhorrent state. This disease can be treated through surgical procedures that use anesthetics, such as lidocaine. Through inhibiting sensory nerve propagation to the brain, lidocaine plays an invaluable part in reducing pain for patients that undergo cataract surgery. Current clinical practice commonly utilizes 2% lidocaine with fentanyl as a combination agent. However, recent studies have reported that concentrations higher than 1% can cause substantial alteration to corneal epithelium cells. Additionally, fentanyl is cited as an extremely addictive opioid inappropriate for continual use in cataract surgeries. In this review, the authors examine the application and concentration of lidocaine, along with the various combination agents that were reported in several studies that describe the usage of the anesthetic during cataract surgery. Within the review, it was found that most surgeons generally only use lidocaine gel on the corneal epithelium tissue of patients during cataract surgery. Perhaps this standard could change over time as it is generally known that using intracameral injections in conjunction with topical anesthesia produces better patient outcomes. The authors find that although anesthetics and surgical treatment for cataracts are generally beneficial for patients, there are still many adjustments that could be implemented to enhance patient outcomes.