Pain Management During Panretinal Photocoagulation for Diabetic Retinopathy: Safety and Efficacy of Peribulbar Anesthesia

The purpose of this study was to compare two different anesthesia methods for pain control during panretinal photocoagulation (PRP), a type of laser surgery that treats proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The study included eyes from patients with diabetes and proliferative diabetic retinopathy who were scheduled to undergo their first PRP session. Participants were split into two groups to receive either peribulbar anesthesia, which is a type of anesthesia injected through the eyelid, or a sham injection with topical anesthesia only. Pain on a numerical scale and vital signs were recorded before and for 15 minutes during PRP. These results were compared between the two groups to determine which method delivers superior pain control.