Comparison of Anesthesia Results between Wide Awake Local Anesthesia no Tourniquet (WALANT) and Forearm Tourniquet Bier Block in Hand Surgeries: A Randomized Clinical Trial

There is still some debate regarding the most proper anesthetic technique in minor hand surgeries. Wehypothesized that both the WALANT and forearm tourniquet Bier block methods provide effective anesthesia in minorhand surgeries without significant difference. A total of 85 patients consented to participate in this study and were randomized into WALANT and singletourniquet forearm Bier block groups. In WALANT group, patients received adrenaline-contained lidocaine withouttourniquet while lidocaine was administered accordingly after applying a forearm tourniquet in Bier group. Due todifference in intervention methods, the study was non-blinded. Need for additional analgesia during surgery, visualanalogue scale (VAS) for pain intensity during operation and an hour later, amount of bleeding and active handmovements were evaluated and recorded. The need for analgesia and severity of pain (VAS) during surgery and one hour later were significantly lessin WALANT group, whereas the amount of bleeding was less in Bier block group. The ability to move hand and fingersduring the operation was the same in both groups. Both WALANT and single cuff forearm tourniquet Bier block are effective methods in minor hand surgeries,however, forearm Bier block provides less analgesia and pain control with a drier field than WALANT method.Level of evidence: I