Objective: To show the techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of topical anaesthesia. Setting: Sarasota Cataract Institute, Florida, USA. Results And Conclusions: Topical anaesthesia is attainable for all those requiring cataract surgery who are able to communicate with the surgeon. Therefore, deaf, dysphasic or mute patients are not good candidates; neither are patients with macular scars, as they may not have the adequate foveal function to be able to target onto the microscope light or other small fixation device.