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Objectives: In order to evaluate the impact of recent progress in anesthesia and cataract surgery, we conducted a national survey in France to determine which techniques are used., Methods: A questionnaire was sent to the most representative French ophthalmology teams: 66 teams participated in the survey., Results: Seventy-one percent of the surgeons routinely used phacoemulsification: 91% of the anesthesists prefer locoregional anesthesia: contraindications most often involved general health status (89%). Ambulatory anesthesia was preferred by 16.7% of the teams., Conclusion: Phacoemulsification under peribulbal anesthesia is currently the technique most frequently used in cataract surgery in France. Ambulatory anesthesia is not yet widely used for this type of surgery.

Clamping of the carotid artery made necessary by surgery of that vessel produces haemodynamic disturbances which may result in a neurological deficit accident at recovery from anaesthesia. Evaluating the patient's tolerance to carotid clamping and using brain protection methods during clamping increase the safety of the operation. The different methods of protection used in France were examined in an enquiry conducted among members of the French college of vascular surgery, with special attention to measurement of residual pressure in the clamped internal carotid artery (performed by 60 p. 100 of surgeons) and its corollary which is intraluminal shunting in case of hypotension. This type of enquiry concerning controverted technical procedures should provide information on the best way of improving surgical results.