Today, many surgeries of the eye can be performed using minimally invasive techniques that allow your ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.) to give you topical anesthetia with eyedrops and jelly during the surgery rather than injectable anesthetics before your procedure.

In some cases, your comfort during surgery may be increased by giving you an additional anesthetic using a very small canula into the area of your eye between your iris and cornea (the anterior chamber.) This technique is helpful if the pupil is very small at the time of cataract surgery and will need to be stretched as part of the surgery. This is called intracameral anesthesia and it ensures that your surgical procedure is as comfortable as possible. 

(c) 2009 Robert M Schertzer, MD, MEd, FRCSC based on 2007 The American Academy of Ophthalmology