For many patients, being put under is an important part of surgery, but could you tolerate being awake while being operated on? A new surgical technique is being offered at Avera Orthopedics and the biggest change – the patient is awake for the procedure. For patients with wrist and hand pain it's proving to be a terrific and convenient option.
Lingering Hand Pain Led to Avera Orthopedics
For the last couple of years, Steve Johnson has been dealing with nagging discomfort of carpal tunnel syndrome.
“Tingling, and it would get painful if I didn’t do something about it, so half the time I was lying over the bed and trying to shake my hand to make it go away. So we decided this is probably something we should check out,” said Johnson.
That brought him to Kelly McKnight, MD, a hand specialist with Avera Orthopedics who introduced him to the new type of pain relief procedure.
“So WALANT Surgery is an acronym and it stands for Wide Awake Local Anesthetic No Tourniquet,” said Dr. McKnight.
Yup, you heard that right. Steve and patients who choose this option are awake for their surgery.
“The wide awake part is I think my favorite part, you know they’re awake so you get to talk to people, you get to know them a little bit better. Patients love it because they can drive themselves here and they can drive themselves home. They can eat breakfast and lunch they can take all their meds. They can have a cup of coffee. It’s really convenient for them,” said Dr. McKnight.
WALANT Provides Convenience and Care
Because it’s a smaller incision and the patient isn’t asleep, there’s no need for an anesthesiologist. Instead the arm is numbed for about 30 minutes prior and the patient walks themselves to the procedure room. Scalpels and tools can be jarring, but being more involved in the process can actually be more calming.
“Surgery is scary for a lot of people, and I think being able to do this WALANT surgery, having patients awake, is a really good way to lower the anxiety that people have. It’s a good way just to communicate what we’re doing, what we’re seeing, help the patients through those more scary, more stressful times. Being able to see what’s going on with their hand I think also provides a lot of benefits in terms of healing and how to take good care of it too. I also think that it gives patients a good opportunity to ask questions and I always offer for all my patients to see inside their hands,” said Dr. McKnight.
“So I had a nurse over here talking to me and we were having a good time and I was kidding with Dr. McKnight a little bit and I thought well maybe I shouldn’t do this because this lady has got a sharp object there and working on my hand! But she did a fantastic job you can’t hardly tell,” said Johnson.
“I actually have a lot that are interested in the work that we’re doing and the want to see what it looks like in there. You hope that it’s the only time they will ever see inside their hands and I kind of lead with that, but I think it’s really good for them just to be able to see what you’re working on. I’m a visual learner and I think a lot of patients are as well, so being able to see that I think really brings it home and solidifies what we’ve been doing," Dr. McKnight said.
For Steve, he’s on the mend and looking forward to whatever the day brings, just without the carpel tunnel pain.
“Every day is the weekend, I’m retired! So I just won’t have the tingling hands anymore. They did a super job and their attitude, friendliness and the care that they give to patients. It just makes the whole thing an easier process,” said Johnson.
Steve had both hands repaired just a few weeks after each other with this new technique. WALANT is used for a wide variety of hand issues including carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, and other tendon repairs.
Learn more about Avera orthopedic treatment options.
