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Oral Glycerin in Cataract Surgery

1965; American Medical Association; Volume: 73; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1001/archopht.1965.00970030518014

1538-3601

Norman S. Jaffe, D. S. LIGHT,

Ocular Infections and Treatments

This report is concerned with oral glycerin as a hypotensive agent in cataract surgery. The advantages of operating on a soft eye are unquestioned. The first approach to surgical hypotonia, digital pressure 1,2 following retrobulbar anesthesia, has now achieved wide acceptance. Osmotic agents, however, have been more recently advocated. Urea and later mannitol 3-10 have been used with benefit. The main disadvantage of these agents has been that infiltration at the injection site may be complicated by a severe tissue slough. Other problems have been the availability of trained technical assistants to administer intravenous solutions, transportation to the operating room, and the necessity for continuous observation of the injection site during surgery. There have also been reports of serious toxic reactions to these agents. Furthermore, they cannot be given orally since urea exerts profound emetic and purgative effects, while mannitol is ineffective due to failure of intestinal absorption. The use