WALANT Technique (Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet) for Carpal Tunnel Release.

Summary

The carpal tunnel release (CTR) is now performed almost exclusively under regional anesthesia (RA) in France. RA requires the use of a pneumatic tourniquet to limit blood flow to the operated extremity and create a bloodless surgical field for a clear visualization of the anatomic structures by the surgeon.

Multiple approaches to block the brachial plexus can be considered. The most common technique is the axillary block (BAX) that provides complete anesthesia for the patient's arm and forearm. This technique offers anesthesia not only for the surgical area but also for the root of the arm where the pneumatic tourniquet is placed. However this technique have limits: the persistence of a motor block in the arm and the forearm that is not compatible with a quick hospital discharge (short term ambulatory hospitalization) and the need for assistance with dressing and eating after surgery. More distal anesthetic techniques are proposed such as the troncular blocks (TRONC) that avoid motor block of the arm and offer an earlier recovery and autonomy for the patient. However, they lead to a poor tolerance to the tourniquet due to its application on a non-anesthetized area.The pain related to the pressure of the tourniquet can occur within the first few minutes of its inflation, get worse over time and persist for several minutes after its deflation. Therefore, TRONC procedure is less often performed compared to the BAX for major surgeries but it remains appropriate for CTR.

The Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet (WALANT) technique is widely used in Canada and has been proposed for hand and wirst minor surgeries. WALANT uses a combination of a local anesthetic (LA) and epinephrine 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. Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor agent that reduces blood flow at surgical site. This bloodless effect is visualized on the skin by a pale color. Thus, WALANT can provide a chemical tourniquet and eliminate the pain from a traditional arm tourniquet. However, this technique is performed with a short-acting LA and does not offer any postoperative analgesia.

The association of TRONC using long-acting LA with the WALANT technique could combine the comfort of a surgery without tourniquet to a long-acting analgesia and thus could provide a superior overall comfort.

The main objective of this prospective, multicentre, randomized, open-label, parallel-group controlled trial is to evaluate the interest of WALANT technique on patient comfort during CTR performed with TRONC, compared to the tourniquet.

Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Release

Interventions

PROCEDURE

TRONC

injection of 3 to 7 mL of Ropivacaine 3.75 mg/ml per nerve (median and ulnar nerves) and infiltration of 2 ml of Ropivacaine 3.75 mg/ml laterally above the flexion fold of the wrist in order to block the branches of the lateral cutaneous nerve of the forearm, the terminal sensory branch of the musculocutaneous nerve.

PROCEDURE

WALANT

infiltration with 3 to 7 ml of 1% lidocaine (10 mg/ml) combined with 0.005 mg/ml epinephrine and 8.4% sodium bicarbonate in the subcutaneous area in front of the transverse ligament, between the thenar and hypothenar eminences, from the flexion fold of the wrist over a length of 5 cm.

PROCEDURE

Tourniquet

inflation pressure 75 to 100 mmHg above systolic blood pressure.

DRUG

Ropivacaine

troncular blocks with Ropivacaine 3.75 mg/ml

DRUG

Lidocaine + Epinephrine

WALANT technique with 1% lidocaine (10 mg/ml) combined with 0.005 mg/ml epinephrine

Sponsors & Collaborators

• CMC Ambroise Paré

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-09-11

Primary Completion

2021-06-25

Completion

2021-07-05

Countries

• France

Study Locations