South Shore Orthopedics is proud to offer wide-awake hand surgery, a new breakthrough in the field of hand and upper extremity operations. Unlike traditional surgery methods where general anesthesia is used, wide awake hand surgery offers a less invasive approach which allows for less preparation and recovery time.
How Wide-Awake Hand Surgery Works
Although general anesthesia is not used, your surgeon will administer a combination of lidocaine and epinephrine to the surgical site. These medications will be injected locally with the lidocaine providing numbing to the site and the epinephrine decreasing or stopping blood flow to the area, eliminating the need for a tourniquet.
Why Choose Wide-Awake Hand Surgery
Due to not using general anesthesia or sedation, the risks and side effects of anesthesia are avoided. Anesthesia has been associated with nausea, vomiting, and grogginess upon awakening. Additionally, when anesthesia is used, monitoring is needed and often times that includes the use of an anesthesiologist, which is an additional expense. Eliminating anesthesia may eliminate worry, associated risks, side effects, and medical bills.
For these reasons, South Shore Orthopedics is performing more wide-awake hand surgeries than ever before. If hand surgery is in your future, we encourage you to learn more about the benefits of wide-awake hand surgery and talk with your doctor to determine if you are a candidate.
Benefits of Wide-Awake Hand Surgery Include:
- No preoperative testing such as EKGs or blood work is required
- No overnight fasting is needed
- No anesthesia
- No monitoring necessary after surgery
- Decreased cost
- Increased safety
- Increased Value
- Increased Access
After the hand surgery is performed, if all goes as planned, then the patient is able to go home immediately. Since no anesthesia is used, there is no need for the patient to be sent to recovery for hours of monitoring. The patient can walk, drive, and to put it simply, “get up and go home” following the procedure. It is not uncommon to find patients returning to work immediately.
Learn More
South Shore Orthopedics invites you to learn more about our areas of treatment, including surgical procedures performed. We pride ourselves on staying up-to-date on medical advancements, such as wide-awake hand surgery, so when you choose South Shore as your provider, you can rest easy knowing you are in great hands with our qualified team of surgeons. Request an appointment today!