Open carpal tunnel release under local anaesthesia: a patient satisfaction survey

The patient acceptability of open carpal tunnel release under local anaesthesia (LA) and tourniquet control was assessed by a postal survey. 58 releases on 44 patients over a 3-year period were surveyed, with a questionnaire response rate of 91%. Use of LA for this procedure was effective and acceptable to most patients, but the incidence of severe pain due to infiltration of LA and the tourniquet intolerance rate were unacceptably high and have been addressed by use of LA with adrenaline and bipolar diathermy to dispense with tourniquet and use of dental syringe and injecting LA from proximal to distal direction to make infiltration more comfortable.