A prospective comparison of wide-awake local anesthesia and general anesthesia for forefoot surgery

Orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery is typically performed while the patient is under general or regional anesthesia. These anesthetic techniques have inherent risks and costs associated with them [1], and alternate approaches should be considered if they have the potential to improve on these methods. Developed for use in hand surgery [2 –7], wide-awake local anesthesia is one such alternative that has been used successfully in a foot and ankle setting [8]. Wide-awake local anesthesia is characterized by a surgeon-administered mixture of local anesthetic (e.g., lidocaine) for pain control and epinephrine for hemostasis and improve d anesthetic effect.
Source: Foot and Ankle Surgery - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Source Type: research