no sedation during cataract surgery?

I'm sorry, but patients also have an obligation (to themselves) to advocate for their own care. If I were going to surgery and ANYONE said in my presence that today was going to be an "experimental day" I would have something to say about that. Unless I was assured that I would be getting a standard of care that I felt was appropriate, I would take myself home and find another doctor/hospital. This was not an emergency procedure, it was elective. She could have walked right out of the door with no real negative consequences to her health or wellbeing.

I work in another Canadian province. Our cataract patients are NOT routinely sedated. If they are anxious pre-op they will be offered a sedative. I've checked with a pal who works in Opthamology and the report is that less than 10 per cent of her patients are given a sedative. Depending on the day and the OR crew most don't even recieve an IV. Pain control is usually topical with an average of five retrobulbar in approximately 200 patients. (She works in a regional centre and sees anywhere from 20 to 70 patients a day)

The comments are interesting to read. it sounds like their is an agenda being pushed.

In the US, I know of cases where people (RN's particularly) refused sedation. Instead, they just gave local. It wasn't really an issue but something that they did commonly.