Subconjunctival anesthesia: an alternative to retrobulbar and peribulbar techniques.

We present a method of anesthesia for intraocular surgery of the anterior segment of the eye that avoids the risks of the potential complications associated with retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthesia. The method consists of topical anesthesia plus 0.5 cc of lidocaine (with hyaluronidase and epinephrine) injected beneath the superior conjunctiva. We have demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of this technique in 431 consecutive cases.