Satisfaction Survey After Distal Surgery Performed Under Local Infiltration (Walant) or Under Axillary Block

In the 1970s-1980s, Dr. Donald Lalonde (surgeon, Canada) developed an anesthetic technique for hand surgery called WALANT (Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet). This technique is based on the joint administration of a local anesthetic (lidocaine) and epinephrine (adrenaline), which limits bleeding and makes it possible to dispense with a tourniquet. In addition, and contrary to truncal anesthesia, this combination of drugs infiltrated opposite the surgical site preserves the mobility of the limb. However, this technique is not without risk and some adverses events have been reported: intoxication by local anesthetics due to overdose and digital necrosis with the use of procaine or cocaine.

Currently in France, truncal anesthesia with a pneumatic tourniquet on the arm is often preferred for hand surgery (axillary block or BAx). In this case, the pneumatic tourniquet is used to minimize intraoperative blood loss and improve the visibility of the operating field. However, it can be a source of discomfort, pain, or transient neurological deficit.

To date, few studies comparing WALANT and BAx are available and none have evaluated the perioperative experience of patients and the incidence of paresthesias in the short and long term.

In order to measure the perioperative satisfaction of patients undergoing hand surgery with BAx or WALANT, we conduct a prospective observational non-randomized study evaluating the EVAN-LR satisfaction score at D0. The secondary objectives of the study are to evaluate postoperative adverse events (digital necrosis, paresthesias, local anesthetic intoxications, infection of the operated limb), consumption of postoperative analgesic treatments in both groups.