Wide-Awake Local Anesthesia vs. Regional/General Anesthesia for Flexor Tendon Repair

NCT ID: NCT03135340

Last Updated: 2017-07-17

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

88 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2017-08-31

Study Completion Date

2033-11-30

Brief Summary

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Wide-awake hand surgery with local anesthetic, no tourniquet and no sedation (WALANT) is increasingly utilized. Conventional anesthesia for hand surgery involves a patient with a block, unable to perform motor function in the arm, and with patient either intubated or sedated, unable to follow surgeon instructions intra-operatively. Flexor tendon repair with a wide awake and cooperative patient is routinely performed successfully at some centres. This method provides several potential benefits including being able to have the patient actively flex the digit and visualize the repair site to assess for any tendon gapping at the repair site, ensure adequate approximation, gliding and absence of triggering. There have not been any prospectively collected randomized controlled trials comparing wide awake vs. regional/general anesthesia in flexor tendon repair. The purpose of our study is to assess for differences in early outcomes including stiffness, patient satisfaction and early complications in wide-awake anesthesia when compared to general/regional anesthesia for flexor tendon repair in zones I and II. Our hypothesis is that there is a lower complication rate and better outcomes when using wide-awake flexor tendon repair.

Detailed Description

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Primary repair for flexor tendon lacerations remain the standard of care. However, despite recent advances in knowledge of tendon healing, suture material, and post-operative protocols, outcomes have been reported as fair or poor in 7-20% of patients. Complications encountered include adhesion formation, development of joint contractures, tendon rupture, triggering, bowstringing and quadrigia.

Wide-awake flexor tendon repair using local anesthesia and epinephrine with no tourniquet has been described. Safety of epinephrine in digits makes it possible, and epinephrine-induced vasoconstriction precludes the need for a tourniquet and cautery.This approach allows a wide-awake, comfortable, non-sedated, cooperative, tourniquet-free patient to test the freshly repaired tendon with full active range of motion intraoperatively. The surgeon can inspect for bunching, gapping, and triggering of the repair site in an active fashion. Thus, an opportunity is available to revise the repair, trim or add extra sutures, revise pulley reconstruction, or de-bulk tendons before wound closure. This could mean that a higher quality repair is possible and could guide post-operative rehabilitation. It follows that if the patient is unable to achieve total active range of motion intraoperatively they will not be able to postoperatively and may end up requiring a tenolysis. Lalonde and colleagues looked retrospectively at their 15 years of experience using WALANT with the hypothesis that this technique decreased their post-operative rupture rate. With 122 patients there were only 3 ruptures, all due to unexpected forceful movements. Contraindications of this technique include patients who are unable or unwilling to tolerate an operation while awake, pediatric patients, those who are mentally impaired, and complex trauma.

Improved compliance with postoperative therapy is also reported after patients visualize the repair in real time and gain a better understanding of limitations and expectations. Patient buy-in to the rehabilitation process is potentially improved if the surgeon can use the operative time to educate the patient, show them the repair, and manage expectations since the patient is wide-awake and coherent. Wide-awake flexor tendon repair could also improve surgeon confidence in initiating a true active motion therapy protocol when the surgeon visualizes the absence of gapping with full finger flexion. Initiation of early active motion could subsequently improve ultimate post-operative range of motion and patient satisfaction. The advent of wide-awake flexor tendon repair could have economic implications as well given that fewer resources are theoretically used for the procedure.

Currently there are no prospective randomized controlled studies evaluating outcomes in flexor tendon repairs that have utilized a wide-awake anaesthesia protocol and comparing outcomes with traditional repair techniques.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare outcomes of WALANT (wide-awake, local anesthetic, no tourniquet) when compared to traditional general/regional anesthetic for flexor tendon repairs in zone I and II.

Conditions

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Tendon Injury - Hand

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Two groups. One interventional group and one control group with random allocation as described below.
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
The outcomes assessor will be blinded to the treatment received.

Study Groups

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WALANT

These patients will receive local anesthetic for flexor tendon repair injected directly into the operative site on the hand. The local anesthetic used 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

WALANT

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

These patients will receive local anesthetic for flexor tendon repair injected directly into the operative site on the hand. The local anesthetic used 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine.

WALANT Injection

Intervention Type DRUG

1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine injected directly into operative site. The typical quantity is 5-10cc aliquots.

General/regional anesthesia

These patients will receive general/regional anesthesia for flexor tendon repair. This is ropivacaine 0.5% injected by an anesthetist under image-guidance in the axillary region of the arm. If the regional anesthesia is not functioning at the time of OR, this is converted to a general anesthetic as per standard protocol.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

General/regional anesthesia

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

These patients will receive general/regional anesthesia for flexor tendon repair. This is ropivacaine 0.5% injected by an anesthetist under image-guidance in the axillary region of the arm. If the regional anesthesia is not functioning at the time of OR, this is converted to a general anesthetic as per standard protocol.

Regional Anesthetic Injection

Intervention Type DRUG

0.5% ropivacaine injected under ultrasound guidance into the axilla. The typical quantity is 30-40cc aliquots.

Interventions

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WALANT

These patients will receive local anesthetic for flexor tendon repair injected directly into the operative site on the hand. The local anesthetic used 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

General/regional anesthesia

These patients will receive general/regional anesthesia for flexor tendon repair. This is ropivacaine 0.5% injected by an anesthetist under image-guidance in the axillary region of the arm. If the regional anesthesia is not functioning at the time of OR, this is converted to a general anesthetic as per standard protocol.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

WALANT Injection

1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine injected directly into operative site. The typical quantity is 5-10cc aliquots.

Intervention Type DRUG

Regional Anesthetic Injection

0.5% ropivacaine injected under ultrasound guidance into the axilla. The typical quantity is 30-40cc aliquots.

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* over the age of 18
* acute single or multiple digit complete flexor tendon lacerations in zones I or II presenting to attending physicians who agree to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* gross wound contamination
* segmental tendon loss
* associated finger fractures
* sub-acute or chronic ruptures (ruptures \> 6 weeks old)
* active or previous infection in the wound bed
* requirement of delayed repair
* complex or multisystem injuries
* multiple digit injuries
* significant joint injuries
* amputations (replants)
* mangled hand injuries.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Western Ontario, Canada

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Ruby Grewal, MD MSc FRCSC

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Western University, Canada

Central Contacts

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Ruby Grewal, MD MSc FRCSC

Role: CONTACT

519-646-6286

Tym Frank, MD, FRCSC

Role: CONTACT

778-870-5772

References

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Verdan CE. Half a century of flexor-tendon surgery. Current status and changing philosophies. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1972 Apr;54(3):472-91. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 4560071 (View on PubMed)

Saldana MJ, Chow JA, Gerbino P 2nd, Westerbeck P, Schacherer TG. Further experience in rehabilitation of zone II flexor tendon repair with dynamic traction splinting. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1991 Mar;87(3):543-6. doi: 10.1097/00006534-199103000-00023.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 1998024 (View on PubMed)

Lilly SI, Messer TM. Complications after treatment of flexor tendon injuries. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2006 Jul;14(7):387-96. doi: 10.5435/00124635-200607000-00001.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16822886 (View on PubMed)

Wilhelmi BJ, Blackwell SJ, Miller J, Mancoll JS, Phillips LG. Epinephrine in digital blocks: revisited. Ann Plast Surg. 1998 Oct;41(4):410-4. doi: 10.1097/00000637-199810000-00010.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 9788222 (View on PubMed)

Denkler K. A comprehensive review of epinephrine in the finger: to do or not to do. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2001 Jul;108(1):114-24. doi: 10.1097/00006534-200107000-00017.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11420511 (View on PubMed)

Nodwell T, Lalonde D. How long does it take phentolamine to reverse adrenaline-induced vasoconstriction in the finger and hand? A prospective, randomized, blinded study: The Dalhousie project experimental phase. Can J Plast Surg. 2003 Winter;11(4):187-90. doi: 10.1177/229255030301100408.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24009436 (View on PubMed)

Higgins A, Lalonde DH, Bell M, McKee D, Lalonde JF. Avoiding flexor tendon repair rupture with intraoperative total active movement examination. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2010 Sep;126(3):941-945. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181e60489.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20463621 (View on PubMed)

Lalonde DH. Wide-awake flexor tendon repair. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2009 Feb;123(2):623-625. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e318195664c. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19182622 (View on PubMed)

Lalonde DH. An evidence-based approach to flexor tendon laceration repair. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2011 Feb;127(2):885-890. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e31820467b6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21285792 (View on PubMed)

Momeni A, Grauel E, Chang J. Complications after flexor tendon injuries. Hand Clin. 2010 May;26(2):179-89. doi: 10.1016/j.hcl.2009.11.004.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20494744 (View on PubMed)

Dowd MB, Figus A, Harris SB, Southgate CM, Foster AJ, Elliot D. The results of immediate re-repair of zone 1 and 2 primary flexor tendon repairs which rupture. J Hand Surg Br. 2006 Oct;31(5):507-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsb.2006.06.006. Epub 2006 Aug 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16930791 (View on PubMed)

Mustoe TA, Buck DW 2nd, Lalonde DH. The safe management of anesthesia, sedation, and pain in plastic surgery. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2010 Oct;126(4):165e-176e. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181ebe5e9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20885206 (View on PubMed)

Strickland JW. Results of flexor tendon surgery in zone II. Hand Clin. 1985 Feb;1(1):167-79.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 4093459 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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UWO7788705772

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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