Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet Surgery of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Patients' Experience and Recall Bias in a Day-Care Setting.

Background and Objective: Wide-Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet (WALANT) is a technique of local anesthesia commonly used in the surgical treatment of a wide variety of conditions affecting the upper extremity, including Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The recent retrospective studies investigated patient experiences in a wide variety of hand disorder-related cases. The aim of our study is to evaluate patient satisfaction regarding open surgical treatment for CTS using the WALANT technique. Material and Methods: we enrolled 82 patients with CTS without medical record of surgical treatment for CTS. For WALANT, a hand surgeon used a combination of 1:200,000 epinephrine, 1% lidocaine, and 1 mL 8.4% sodium bicarbonate solution without tourniquet application and sedating the patient. All patients were treated in a day-care setting. For assessment of patient experience, Lalonde's questionnaire was adapted. Participants completed survey twice: one month and six months after the surgical treatment was performed. Results: the median pre-operative pain score for all patients was 4 (range 0-8) after one month and 3 (range 1-8) after six months. The median intraoperative pain score for all patients was 1 (range 0-8) after one month and 1 (range 1-7) after six months. The median post-operative pain score for all patients was 3 (range 0-9) after one month and 1 (range 0-8) after six months. More than half (61% after one month and 73% after six months) of the patients responded by stating that their real experience of WALANT was better than their initial expectations. An absolute majority of patients (95% after one month and 90% after six months) would recommend WALANT treatment to their relatives. Conclusions: overall, patient satisfaction with treatment for CTS using WALANT is high. Furthermore, complications related to the performed treatment and persistent post-operative pain could be associated with more reliable patient recall of this healthcare intervention. A longer period of time between intervention and assessment of patient experience could possibly be a reason for recall bias.

Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation Reduces Pathological Sensation of Mesh One Week after Open Inguinal Hernia Surgery: Follow-Up Results from a Randomized, Double Blind and Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background and Objectives: Quality of life (QoL) and chronic pain are important outcomes following hernia surgery. The long-term effects of Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS) on postoperative recovery are not well known. In this trial we investigated the role of TENS on QoL and on the incidence of chronic pain following inguinal hernia repair with mesh. Materials and Methods: A total of 80 male patients with elective primary unilateral hernia Lichtenstein repair were randomly allocated to receive TENS or a placebo-TENS procedure. The TENS group received conventional TENS twice a day on the first and second postoperative days. The intensity was set at 0-0.5 mA in the placebo-TENS group. General and hernia-specific QoL, as well as the incidence of chronic pain were assessed using SF-36v2 and the Carolinas comfort scale. Results: Less sensation of mesh was reported by the TENS group patients one week after surgery. At this time point, the mean sensation score was 6.07 ± 8.88 in the TENS group and 14.08 ± 16.67 in the placebo-TENS group (p = 0.029). Although at two days and one week postoperatively, TENS group patients tended to have less pain, less movement restrictions and better overall hernia-specific QoL, the differences were not statistically significant. At 6 months postoperatively, no incidence of chronic pain was found in either the placebo-TENS or TENS group. Conclusions: Conventional TENS applied in the early postoperative period following inguinal hernia repair with mesh was found to reduce mesh-related foreign body sensation one week after surgery. Promising results were also found for other QoL domains.

Atrial fibrillation and changes in serum and urinary electrolyte levels after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Our study was designed to assess the incidence of atrial fibrillation, changes in serum electrolyte concentrations and urinary electrolyte excretion following coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 165 patients who underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting surgery at the Department of Cardiac Surgery (Heart Center) during the period of 2004-2005 were enrolled. Serum K(+), Na(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cl(-), and P(-) concentrations were measured before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), on the arrival to an intensive care unit, and 15-18 hours after the surgery. Urinary excretion of K(+), Na(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cl(-), and P(-) was estimated 24 hours before the surgery, during the surgery, and 24 hours after the surgery. Cardiac rhythm was monitored throughout the study. All patients randomly were divided into the group 1 (n=55), which received magnesium sulphate infusion, and group 2 (n=110), which did not receive magnesium sulphate. RESULTS: The overall incidence of atrial fibrillation was 27.4%. The patients in the group 1 had significantly higher levels of serum magnesium before CPB and serum chloride after the surgery. Urinary magnesium and calcium excretion was significantly higher in the group 1 during and after the surgery. Before the surgery and 24 hours after the surgery, phosphate excretion was significantly higher in the group 1. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of atrial fibrillation after myocardial revascularization surgery remains high (27.4%). Serum electrolyte concentrations after myocardial revascularization varied within normal ranges. Magnesium sulphate infusion did not decrease the rate of postoperative atrial fibrillation during the early postoperative period in normomagnesemic patients.