[Direct optic nerve and retinal injury caused by retrobulbar injections].

The authors report on 2 patients with direct damage to the optic nerve and retina: In a 25-year-old deaf-mute patient a peripheral iridectomy was performed after lid and retrobulbar anesthesia. The amaurosis noticed immediately after surgery was caused by direct injury to the optic nerve. A 69-year-old patient with high myopia was treated with retrobulbar steroid injections. The globe was perforated and a series of 4 retinal defects from the periphery to close to the optic nerve head were created. An unhealed retinal detachment developed. The importance of informing the patient preoperatively about these extremely rare complications of retrobulbar injections is emphasized.