scholarly journals The efficacy of WALANT technique in Hand Surgery

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 136-141
Author(s):  
Niraj Ranjeet ◽  
Pratyenta Raj Onta ◽  
Krishna Sapkota ◽  
Pabin Thapa ◽  
Upendra jung Thapa ◽  
...  

Background: Nowadays, Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet (WALANT) technique has gained popularity among surgeons because of its use in variety of surgical procedures because it provides excellent hemostasis, eliminating the need of tourniquet, sedation and the risk and cost of general anesthesia. Aims and Objective: In this study, we wanted to evaluate its efficacy and the experiences of the patients and surgeons in different hand surgeries. Materials and Methods: We had 108 patients who underwent various hand surgeries under WALANT technique. Patients and surgeons were requested to fill a questionnaire after the procedure. The procedure was evaluated in terms of the pain compared to a dental procedure, duration of the anesthesia, amount of bleeding and patients’ satisfaction. Results: The mean age of our patients was 42.7 years. A variety of hand surgery was performed in our study. The mean local anaesthetic volume used was 16.5 ml. The Tang grading system was used to evaluate the levels of surgeon’s experience; 75% of surgeons were a Level 2, 18% Level 3 and 7% Level 4. Sixty-four patients experienced WALANT to be less than, 30 patients equivalent to and 8 had more pain compared to a dental procedure. There was a significant correlation between volume of local anesthetic used, duration of surgery and number of procedural components repaired. Both pain and anxiety levels were significantly less intra-operatively and postoperatively as compared to the level at the time of injection. Eighty-seven patients considered it to be better than expected, and would prefer it in the future in case they have to undergo surgery. Conclusion: We observed that our patients were satisfied with their experience on WALANT technique and the surgical procedures, and we recommend the use of this for a variety of hand surgery procedures.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco J Naude ◽  
Odette Koch ◽  
Ludwig W Schmidt ◽  
Theo LB le Roux

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to establish a subjective patient experience with wide awake local anaesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) procedures performed in the institution from May 2019 to March 2020. WALANT surgery was initiated to improve standard operating procedure and to decrease theatre burden METHODS: This prospective, descriptive study included 100 patients with a mean age of 59 years who required either a carpal tunnel or trigger finger release. The patients' pain experience was documented on the visual analogue scale (VAS) for the local anaesthetic injection and the surgical procedure. Overall experience was assessed on the patient's preference to have the procedure performed by the WALANT method or the conventional method RESULTS: One hundred patients were included, of which 67 had medical comorbidities. The mean VAS score was 1.5 (SD±1.6) with pain on injection. The mean VAS pain score during the surgical procedure was 0.2 (SD±0.7). One hundred per cent of patients (100/100) felt they would do the WALANT outpatient procedure again instead of admission to hospital and surgery in the theatre. Two complications occurred related to wound care problems, and were successfully managed. None of the patients required reoperations for incomplete release of the carpal tunnel or trigger finger surgery CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that minor hand surgery using the WALANT protocol can be performed effectively and with high patient satisfaction rates in the orthopaedic outpatient clinic, and is a useful tool in the skillset of a hand surgeon Level of evidence: Level 4 Keywords: WALANT, hand surgery, trigger finger, carpal tunnel release


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Cardell ◽  
F Jung ◽  
N Zechmann-Müller ◽  
M Greminger ◽  
L Kern ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) hand surgery offers the opportunity to create a bloodless field without using an arm tourniquet. Lidocaine for anesthesia mixed with epinephrine for hemostasis is frequently used without concerns in the hand and finger. This is a major improvement for the patient and the surgeon in terms of patient comfort and having the opportunity to test the hand and finger function intraoperatively. The movement away from tourniquet surgery, which often requires sedation or general anaesthesia is one of the most significant recent advances in hand surgery. Methods A subcutaneous infiltration of a mixture (1:100’000) of lidocaine (1%) and epinephrine (buffered 10:1 with 8.4% bicarbonate) is done with a 27 G canula. The mixture is infiltrated wherever surgical dissection, k-wire insertion, or manipulation of fractured bones will occur. The local anesthetic results in an extravascular Bier block. The injection is done slowly from proximal to distal to minimize injection pain. After the last injection a minimum time of 30 minutes should be waited for maximal epinephrine vasoconstriction in the finger. Results In the beginning WALANT was only used for small procedures like trigger finger or carpal tunnel release. Meanwhile also major hand surgical procedures like finger fractures, flexor tendon repairs, tendon transfers, arthroscopies, arthroplasties and open triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) repair are performed in WALANT. Even procedures like trapeziectomy have been described using wide awake hand surgery, which involves numbing the joint itself. Conclusion The use of WALANT is a proven safe technique that can be used in up to 95% of hand surgical procedures. The benefits for patients and surgeons are obvious. Patients prefer the technique because there are no side effects of opiates or sedation. The anesthetic risk is minimized. Time at hospital is reduced. Patients do not have to suffer tourniquet pain. Surgeons prefer the technique because of the bloodless surgical field without tourniquet, the possibility of intraoperative testing of stability of prosthesis or fracture stabilization, strength of a tendon repair, the movement and gliding properties in the flexor tendon sheath after repair or testing the tension of tendon transfers. These are probably the reasons for the continuously growing popularity of this technique worldwide.


2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (18) ◽  
pp. 1616-1622
Author(s):  
Noah J. Thompson Orfield ◽  
Ariel E. Badger ◽  
Allison N. Tegge ◽  
Maryam Davoodi ◽  
Miguel A. Perez ◽  
...  

Hand Clinics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro José Pires Neto ◽  
Samuel Ribak ◽  
Trajano Sardenberg

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (03) ◽  
pp. 378-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagannath Kamath ◽  
Trivikram Shenoy ◽  
Nikil Jayasheelan ◽  
Naufal Rizwan ◽  
Vartika Sachan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Introduction: Wide awake surgery of the hand (WASH) is a well-accepted technique in hand surgery which allows the surgeon to identify and rectify on the table of some of the inadvertent shortcomings in the surgical procedures to optimise the final outcome. The advantage, however, precludes the use of tourniquet. We describe a modified method which preserves all the advantages of WASH and allows the surgeon to use tourniquet. Patients and Methods: Thirty-one cases of hand surgeries were carried out using the modified technique where a wrist block was supplemented with the ultra-short acting intravenous propofol which allowed the surgeon to use the upper arm tourniquet. The propofol infusion was stopped, and the tourniquet was released after the important surgical step. Within an average of 10 min of stoppage of the infusion, all the patients were awake for active intraoperative painless movements to aid the surgeon to identify, rectify and fine tune the procedure to optimise the results. Results: Five of the 31 patients needed correction based on the intraoperative movements. All the 31 patients were pain free at the surgical site during surgery. All the 31 patients were cooperative enough to perform full range of pain-free intraoperative movements. No patient experienced significant tourniquet pain during the procedure. Patient’s and surgeon’s satisfaction at the end of the procedure has been quite satisfactory. Conclusion: Timed wake-up anaesthesia, an improvement over the original WASH, has been suggested where the surgeon can add without subtracting the benefits of the procedure in the form of usage of the tourniquet providing the clear tissue plane and haemostasis during the surgery. However, an additional cost is incurred for the use of anaesthesia and equipment should be kept in mind.


Hand ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 606-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Miller ◽  
Nayoung Kim ◽  
Asif M. Ilyas

Background: We prospectively evaluated opioid consumption postoperatively following trigger finger release (TFR) and open carpal tunnel release (CTR), and hypothesized that cases performed wide awake with local anesthesia and no tourniquet (WALANT) would result in increased opioid consumption compared with cases performed under monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Methods: Postoperative opioid consumption following CTR and TFR was prospectively collected over 6 months. The primary end points of the study were: (1) total opioid consumption; and (2) the number of days an opioid was used for both groups. Results: Mean opioid use and number of days the opioid was used for all MAC cases were 3.95 pills and 1.8 days, respectively. The results for WALANT were 3.85 pills and 1.6 days. Conclusions: These results suggest that effective pain control postoperatively may be independent of anesthesia type for soft tissue procedures of the hand. Specifically, average opioid consumption and days of utilization were similar in both the MAC and WALANT groups. Average postoperative opioid consumption was approximately only 4 opioid pills. Consideration should be given to prescribing fewer opioids for surgeries such as CTR and TFR.


Author(s):  
A Dalgic ◽  
G Atsal ◽  
O Yildirim ◽  
D T Edizer ◽  
MB Özay ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective This study aimed to evaluate and compare cases of simultaneous and consecutive bilateral cochlear implantation from the perspective of the duration of anaesthesia, surgical complications and hospitalisation. Method Fifty patients with simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation (group 1) and 47 patients with consecutive bilateral cochlear implantation (group 2) were included in this study. The two groups were compared in terms of the duration of anaesthesia, the duration of surgery, radiological findings, the complications and the post-operative hospitalisation time. Results Group 1 had a significantly shorter operation time than group 2 (p < 0.01). The mean total operation time was 189 minutes in group 1. In group 2, the mean operation times for the first and second surgery were 134 minutes and 136 minutes, respectively, and the total operation time for both surgical procedures in group 2 was 270 minutes. The duration of post-operative hospitalisation of the patients in group 1 was significantly shorter than the total post-operative hospitalisation after both operations for the patients in group 2 (p < 0.01). Conclusion In conclusion, if there is no anatomical problem that may lead to a prolonged operation time or any risk regarding anaesthesia, simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation can be performed safely.


The Surgeon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. e67-e71
Author(s):  
Dorian Hobday ◽  
Ted Welman ◽  
Niamh O'Neill ◽  
Gurjinderpal Singh Pahal

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