AIM:To investigate the relationships of pain assessment with time perception and satisfaction for cataract surgeries in patients under topical anesthesia.

METHODS:Ninety patients with 90 eyes received cataract surgeries were included. Pain in surgery was assessed by using Visual Analogue Scales(VAS). According to VAS results, the patients were classified into three groups: Level-I pain group(VAS:0 score), level-Ⅱ pain group(VAS:1～3 scores), level-Ⅲ pain group(VAS:>3 scores). The differences of the three groups on age, sex, laterality, objective duration of the operations, subjective duration and satisfaction for the surgeries were analyzed.

RESULTS:No statistically significant differences between every two groups on age, sex and laterality were detected(P>0.05). The actual operation time and subjective duration was relatively long in the surgery examples with higher pain scores(P<0.05). The patients in Level-I and level-Ⅱ pain group can accurately perceive the duration of their surgery, while those in level-Ⅲ pain group can not accurately perceive. The higher pain scores the patients had, the lower proportion of successful operation was(P<0.05).

CONCLUSION:The accuracy of time perception and satisfaction for surgeries decreased with the aggravation of intraoperative pain in patients under topical anesthesia. So it is an important part of preoperative education and visits to let the patients understand that the feeling of pain cannot be used as a judgment whether the cataract surgery is successful.