Preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain associated with cataract surgery under local anesthesia

Although cataract surgery is a routine outpatient surgery, anxiety and pain remain two significant concerns seen in patients.

To describe preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain related to cataract surgery under local anesthesia and identify the factors determining their occurrence.

This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical, study which included patients who underwent cataract surgery for the first eye in the ophthalmology department of Habib Bourguiba University Hospital in Sfax-Tunisia. Preoperative anxiety was assessed using the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale. Postoperative pain was measured using the visual analog scale.

A total of 203 patients were included with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.79. The average age was 67.73±9.4 years. The mean overall preoperative anxiety score was 10.8±5.2. The average score for the need for information among patients was 3.45±1.5. The most anxiety-provoking factor was the possibility of surgery failure and loss of the operated eye. The determining factors for anxiety were young age and female gender. The average postoperative pain score in our patients was 3.51±1.8. A weakly positive correlation was noted between pain and duration of the procedure.

Managing anxiety and pain related to cataract surgery through preoperative education and adequate management is necessary to improve patient comfort and well-being.