eye problems from anesthesia

I am due to have a minor out patient surgery where I will ge given a choice of general or spinal block- I was going to choose spinal block unitl I read some articles indicating that intracranial pressure can develop causing retinal problems. I am nearsighted -5.50 approx with flashes and floaters now,am 43 yrs old-I see a retinal specialist yearly but he has never found any problems, I saw where he put paving stone degeneration on my chart. Now I don't want to do this procedure- any advice? This procedure is for interstitial cystitis- a bladder distention- it is not gonna cure this but is done for therpeutic reasons and diagnostic- I think I'd rather live with the discomfort I have now than to risk my eyes.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Paving stone degeneration is very common, it sounds worse than it is. It is not considedered a type of degeneration that would increase the risk of retinal tears, detachments or macular degeneration.

If you need this procedure you should listen to your anesthesiologist and chose the best procedure for you. Most of the problems during anesthesia come from exposure keratitis (drying of the cornea due to the lids separating during surgery. Usually prevented by inserting a sterile ointment in the eyes.

A second more serious problem is if there is too much pressure put on the eyeball during procedures, especially face down back surgery. This is now a well recognized problem and serious eye damage rare.

Thus the risk to your eyes for either general or spinal anesthesia should be extremely low.


JCH Eye MD

[alodocter01]

A related discussion, myopia and astigmatism, lattice , paving stone was started.