The Effects of Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery via Local Anesthesia on Preoperative and Postoperative Blood Pressure Levels

Abstract

Purpose: The authors prospectively evaluated the preoperative and postoperative blood pressure (BP) levels of 2270 patients with cataracts.Methods: All surgeries were performed by the same surgeon using the same method of phacoemulsification and aspiration (PEA) with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation with the patients under local anesthesia.Results: The daily systolic BP was 140.7 ± 22.9 mmHg; the preoperative and postoperative systolic BPs were 149.5 ± 23.9 and 145.6 ± 23.8, respectively. The tendency for the preoperative BPs to increase and the postoperative BPs to decrease also was evident in the diastolic and the mean BPs. However, when the authors categorized the cases into normal, intermediate, and hypertension groups, the preoperative BP increased less and the postoperative BP decreased more when the daily BP was higher.Conclusion: Overall, the daily, preoperative, and postoperative BPs were relatively stable with the patients under local anesthesia. However, the BP change was characteristic of each group when the patients were categorized as normal, intermediate, and hypertensive. Surgeons should be aware of the greater-than-anticipated BP change during cataract surgery.