Use of the WALANT Anesthesia Technique for Forefoot Surgery.

Orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery is typically performed while the patient is under general or regional anesthesia. The Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet (WALANT) technique is a local anesthesia technique used since 1980s in Canada for hand surgery. WALANT uses a combination of a local anesthetic and vasoconstrictor to induce anesthesia and hemostasis in the area of the surgical procedure in order to allow surgeries to be done without the use of tourniquet. This practice eliminates the need for the tourniquet due to the hemostatic effect of the vasoconstrictor. The administration of the local anesthetic is done as close as possible to the surgical site, which allows the mobility of the joint to be maintained, while having complete anesthesia. The retention of mobility and the absence of a tourniquet improve patient comfort.

The main objective of this prospective study is to evaluate the perioperative pain level with WALANT anesthesia compared to general anesthesia during forefoot surgery.