Distribution of intra- and extraocular pain induced by argon laser photocoagulation.

We examined the characteristics of ocular pain induced by green argon laser photocoagulation in 13 eyes of ten patients. The patients had retinal detachment or proliferative diabetic retinopathy treated surgically by a 360 degree buckling procedure or vitrectomy with an encircling band on the equator before the laser treatment. All patients complained of ocular pain in various degrees during coagulation on and anterior to the buckle. We confirmed that this kind of ocular pain was asymmetrically distributed; it was dense in the superotemporal quadrant, sparse in the inferonasal quadrant, and intermediate in the remaining two. Seven patients (eight eyes) complained not only of ocular pain, but also of extraocular pain in the ipsilateral upper lid, forehead, and parietal and temporal areas of the head. Both kinds of pain diminished by retrobulbar anesthesia, or by the time interval following surgery.