Inadvertent globe perforation during retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthesia. Patient characteristics, surgical management, and visual outcome.

The authors report a series of 20 eyes from 20 patients in whom inadvertent perforation of the globe occurred during local anesthesia for ocular surgery. Perforation resulted from retrobulbar anesthesia in 18 eyes and from peribulbar anesthesia in 2 eyes. Nine (45%) of 20 eyes had an axial length greater than or equal to 26.00 mm. Combining this figure with axial length data for the general population and estimates for the risk of globe perforation during local anesthesia yields an approximate incidence of perforation in eyes with axial length greater than or equal to 26.00 mm of 1 in 140 injections. Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) developed in 8 of the 20 eyes (40%) in this series. Overall, 15 (75%) of the 20 eyes were successfully repaired, and, in five eyes (25%), the final visual acuity was 20/70 or better.