Wide-awake local anaesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) vs regional or general anaesthesia for flexor tendon repair in adults: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Flexor tendon injuries most commonly occur following a penetrating injury to the hand or wrist. These are challenging injuries and the standard treatment is surgical repair under general or regional anaesthesia. 'Wide-awake' surgery is an emerging technique in hand surgery where a conscious patient is operated on under local anaesthetic. The vasoconstrictive effect of adrenaline (epinephrine) creates a 'bloodless' operating field and a tourniquet is not required. The potential advantages include intra-operative testing of the repair; removal of the risks of general anaesthesia; reduced costs; no aerosol generation from intubation therefore reduced risk of COVID-19 spread to healthcare professionals. The aim of this study will be to systematically evaluate the evidence to

SUBMITTER: Nolan GS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7680064 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature