Current Evidence Involving WALANT Surgery

Evaluating patient satisfaction with WALANT for hand surgery: a comprehensive questionnaire-based study

INTRODUCTION

There has been an increase in the popularity of the wide-awake local anesthesia no-tourniquet (WALANT) procedure for various upper limb surgeries. The present study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the satisfaction levels of 106 patients, considering factors such as age, gender, comorbidities, and the specific procedures they underwent.

METHOD

The present study was a retrospective cohort study conducted to analyze the overall satisfaction of a cohort of 106 patients who underwent various surgical procedures of the hand between 2018 and 2023. The satisfaction was assessed with a questionnaire comprising 13 questions/statements adjusted to a standard Swiss grading system (from 1 = I strongly agree to 6 = I strongly disagree).

RESULTS

Overall satisfaction with WALANT was high, with most patients expressing positive experiences. Patients with hypertension reported similar satisfaction levels compared to those without, while diabetic patients experienced significantly higher anxiety levels during the procedure (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

WALANT exhibits versatility as an anesthesia choice, demonstrating efficacy in both routine and complex hand surgeries. Our survey-based study reveals a high satisfaction level across diverse procedures. When assessing the correlation between WALANT satisfaction and patient comorbidities, hypertension displayed no significant impact, while diabetic patients reported heightened anxiety. Importantly, patient satisfaction remained consistently high even within the subgroup with comorbidities. Our results underscore WALANT's reliability in upper limb surgery, showcasing its usefulness and positive outcomes across a broad range of patients and surgical procedures.

Introducing a new proforma for the safe use of intraoperative tourniquets in orthopaedic surgery

INTRODUCTION

The routine use of pneumatic tourniquets in orthopaedic surgery is widely adopted in current practice; however, practice varies considerably based mainly on anecdotal and cultural traditions. This Quality Improvement Project evaluated current service as per the newly published British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma & Orthopaedics guideline on 'The Safe Use of Intraoperative Tourniquets'.

METHODS

Patient records were reviewed retrospectively for all patients who underwent orthopaedic surgery in September 2021 at one NHS hospital trust. Simultaneously, a nine-question survey was distributed to the orthopaedic teams allowing assessment of non-quantifiable aspects of the guidelines. The results were delivered as a local presentation, and trust-wide dissemination of posters using the mnemonic 'PRESSURE' was used to educate staff. The quantitative audit was repeated twice, after this intervention (March 2022) and after the advent of a new electronic patient record system with an online proforma (January 2023).

RESULTS

There was significant improvement (p<0.05) in all aspects of tourniquet documentation between the audit cycles. Maximum advised tourniquet duration was exceeded in <2% of cases regardless of guideline publication. Recommended pressures were used in less than one-third of cases in all audit cycles, with no significant change throughout. More than 50% of respondents sized their tourniquet on 'whatever looked best fit'.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite tourniquet usage being part of the UK Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery curriculum, this study is the first to highlight a lack of compliance with 'gold standard' guidelines and the need for increased training for staff to ensure patients are exposed to the safest possible environment. Although electronic proformas can aid recording of information, the limitation to change is cultural tradition and anecdotal experience.

Cinnamon Roll Technique with WALANT for Nipple Reduction

BACKGROUND

Nipple hypertrophy is a common esthetic problem in Asian women. Many patients are uncomfortable and seek plastic surgeons for correction. Although several reduction methods have been published, the new nipple size is not always decided by patients under conventional anesthesia. We describe a novel cinnamon roll technique with wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) to decrease pain, provide a bloodless field and allow on-table discussion of the ideal nipple size during surgery.

METHODS

Between November 2015 and October 2022, fifteen patients with 30 nipples were enrolled. The patient's characteristic data, nipple height and width, and VAS while infiltration were recorded. Aesthetic results were evaluated by rating a satisfactory score from 0 to 10 at follow-up. Sensory recovery was also evaluated for 1, 3, 6, and 12 months sequentially after the surgery.

RESULTS

Before surgery, the mean diameter and height of the nipples were 13.2 ± 1.8 mm and 12 ± 2.2 mm, respectively. Immediately after surgery, the mean diameter and height of the nipples were 8.8 ± 1.2 mm and 8.7 ± 1.2 mm, respectively. The mean VAS while infiltration was 1.3 ± 0.5 and the mean satisfactory score at the latest clinic follow-up was 9.3 ± 0.6. No complications such as nipple necrosis, infection, numbness or hypertrophic scar occurred. The mean clinical follow-up period was 3.4 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Cinnamon roll technique with WALANT is a simple, safe and reliable method with short learning curve and high satisfaction. Our technique offers a chance for patients to control subjective pleasing size of their own nipples.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine Ratings, please refer to Table of Contents or online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

Lessons From the Pandemic for Hand Surgery in Wales

Aims In March 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic. The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) was placed under unprecedented pressure and hospitals were forced to adapt their working practices to continue offering world-leading healthcare. This project aims to highlight the lessons learnt within hand surgical departments throughout Wales. Using this knowledge, we can consider how these lessons can be implemented in both emergency and elective hand practice. Methods A qualitative questionnaire was distributed to hand consultants working across Health Boards within Wales during the pandemic. The questionnaire encompasses the impact of the pandemic on usual practices and what local departmental changes have been implemented in response to patient needs. Results Across the Welsh Health Boards, we received 12 of 19 consultant responses achieving a 63% response rate and captured data from five of seven (71%) major health boards. The questionnaire revealed that 100% of respondents changed their routine management of elective cases whilst 83% changed their management of hand trauma. 50% reported the need to issue updated management guidelines to junior doctors. The major highlighted lessons were the importance of a dedicated hand fracture clinic, coupled with a ring-fenced day-surgical unit (offering regional anaesthetic support) to manage trauma and elective patients independently from general trauma. Conclusion This qualitative research demonstrates that the pandemic drove the restructuring of many hand departments enabling us to find new, efficient ways of working. We must take these lessons forward to tackle the ever-growing waiting list, increased patient expectations and increasingly complex workloads.

Intraoperative Challenges in Hand Surgery

A wide array of intraoperative issues can arise during surgery involving the hand and upper extremity. An understanding of the common pitfalls within hand surgery may help practicing hand surgeons circumvent such issues. Within this manuscript, we first identify problems with the increasingly popular technique of wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT). Achieving appropriate hemostasis and anesthetic can be bothersome, especially for procedures proximal to the distal palmar crease. We discuss our local anesthetic timing and concentrations to help mitigate such issues, as well as other problems that may arise in WALANT procedures. There also lies a barrier in connecting the traumatized patient to care in the outpatient/ambulatory setting. Additionally, the polytraumatized patient increases the complexity of care coordination for not just the hand surgeon, but all surgical providers involved. The order in which multidisciplinary surgical procedures are performed is influenced by both the complexity of the patient's case as well as the institution's current protocol. All academic institutions are faced with challenges in providing optimal intraoperative education to trainees. We acknowledge that there should be a balance between the attending surgeon executing key portions of the procedure and the trainee gaining the appropriate hands-on experience. This manuscript elaborates on the issues of intraoperative education provided to residents and anecdotal methods that may help overcome such challenges. Resources within hand surgery can often be limited and become particularly problematic in the operative setting. Specific examples include but are not limited to the lack of dedicated teams, inability to obtain appropriate intraoperative imaging, access to appropriate hardware, and intraoperative complications in an ambulatory surgery center setting.

Safety and efficacy of a modified WALANT technique using undiluted adrenaline during open surgical carpal tunnel release: a prospective report of 308 procedures

PURPOSE

The current study aimed to report on the safety and efficacy of utilizing a modified WALANT (mWALANT) technique during open surgical carpal tunnel release (CTR), where we used undiluted epinephrine compared to the originally described WALANT technique.

METHODS

From January 2015 till the end of June 2021, 200 patients (175 (87.5%) were females) who presented with carpal tunnel syndrome, either bilateral (108 (54%) patients) or unilateral (92 (46%)) were included, formulating a total of 308 procedures. Open surgical CTR was performed as a daycare procedure by the same surgeon. The mWALANT injectable mixture was prepared by mixing 8 CC of 2% lidocaine HCl + 1 CC of 0.25 mg/1 ml epinephrine without dilution (2.5 times the concentration used in the original WALANT technique). The injection was performed before draping.

RESULTS

The patients' average age at surgery was 42.88 ± 13.03 years old; they were followed up for an average of 31 ± 17.17 months. The average operative time was 9.5 ± 1.87 min. None (0.0%) of the patients needed top-up of local anesthesia or shift into general anesthesia, and no (0.0%) patients needed postoperative hospital stay. The average VAS during the surgical procedure was 2.5 ± 2.1, mainly reported during infiltration of the local anesthesia; no patients reported discomfort during the surgical procedure itself. 180 (90%) patients reported a full return to their usual preoperative ADL after an average of 4.7 ± 1.2 weeks. No (0.0%) postoperative fingers ischemic or temperature changes. Two (1%) patients experienced an adrenaline rush in the form of tachycardia that needed sedation and close monitoring by the anesthesiologist; they were discharged on the same day. One (0.5%) patient (who had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus) showed a superficial wound infection which resolved after conservative management.

CONCLUSIONS

Using undiluted epinephrine during the mWALANT technique is safe and effective. There is no need to wait until the drugs fully function, and no epinephrine-related complications were encountered apart from occasional adrenaline rush symptoms.

13 years of hand surgery without an anesthesiologist. An analysis of efficacy and safety of presurgical anesthesia as delivered by surgeons without the assistance of anesthesiologists

<b><br>Introduction:</b> The assistance of anaesthesiologist is considered an inseparable part of most surgical procedures, with the exception of a small proportion of minor procedures performed under local anaesthesia. In hand surgery, a vast majority of procedures, even those lasting several hours, can be carried out under regional (brachial plexus block) or local (infiltration) anaesthesia. These can be delivered by the surgeons themselves, allowing the surgeries to be carried out without the assistance of anesthesiologists.</br> <b><br>Aim:</b> The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy and safety of presurgical anesthesia as delivered by surgeons without the assistance of anesthesiologists in the course of hand surgery procedures performed within the institution headed by the author of this article.</br> <b><br>Material and methods:</b> The analysis was based on the records of anesthesia protocols filled out by the surgeons who delivered the anesthesia and who operated on the patients. The variables considered included the efficacy of anesthesia and the anesthesia-related adverse effects and complications.</br> <b><br>Results:</b> Over a period of 13 years (2010-2022), a total of 24,703 surgeries were delivered; of these, 22,228 (91%) surgeries were carried out without anesthesiologists, with anesthesia being delivered by the surgeon him/herself. The efficacy of these procedures (local anasthesia and brachial plexus blocks combined) was 99%. A total of 631 (2.8%) anesthesia-related adverse reactions were recorded, most of them being transient, requiring immediate interventions and not leading to any serious sequelae. In only 17 cases (0.07%), adverse effects resulted in cancellation and rescheduling of the elective surgery.</br> <b><br>Conclusions:</b> Pre-surgical anesthesia as delivered prior to hand surgery procedures by the surgeons without the assistance of anesthesiologists is effective and safe while being associated with numerous benefits for patients, surgeons and the health care system's budget.</br>.

Successful Use of WALANT in Local and Regional Soft Tissue Flaps: A Case Series

The wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) technique has been proven to be safe and effective for upper extremity surgery. WALANT does not require extensive medical clearance and allows for intraoperative assessment of range of motion. Additionally, it is frequently associated with lower costs and less postoperative pain when compared with traditional methods of anesthesia. Despite its expanded use for hand procedures, there are sparse data to support the use of WALANT in local and regional soft tissue flaps.

Methods

A retrospective review was performed. Twenty-one patients who underwent a local or regional soft tissue flap surgery using the WALANT technique from February 2, 2018 to February 25, 2022 were included in our analysis.

Results

Overall, one Louvre flap, two posterior tibial artery perforator propeller flaps, two reverse radial forearm flaps, two Quaba flaps, six cross finger flaps, one reverse homodigital island flap, three first dorsal metacarpal artery flaps, two thenar flaps, and two Moberg flaps were performed. Patients were followed up for an average of 11.9 ± 8.1 weeks. During this time, no postoperative complications occurred. All patients demonstrated appropriate healing at donor and recipient sites. Full range of motion was regained for all patients.

Conclusions

WALANT is safe and effective for use in local and regional soft tissue flap surgery. Surgeons should consider this technique for more involved procedures such as flap surgery, as preliminary results demonstrate positive outcomes and potentially superior recovery for patients.