Aims. In the UK, fasciectomy for Dupuytren’s contracture is generally performed under general or regional anaesthetic, with an arm tourniquet and in a hospital setting. We have changed our practice to use local anaesthetic with adrenaline, no arm tourniquet, and perform the surgery in a community setting. We present the outcome of a consecutive series of 30 patients. Methods. Prospective data were collected for 30 patients undergoing open fasciectomy on 36 digits (six having two digits affected), over a one-year period and under the care of two surgeons. In total, 10 ml to 20 ml volume of 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline was used. A standard postoperative rehabilitation regime was used. Preoperative health scores, goniometer measurements of metacarpophalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (PIP) contractures, and Unité Rheumatologique des Affections de la Main (URAM) scores were measured pre- and postoperatively at six and 12 weeks. Results. The mean preoperative contractures were 35.3° (0° to 90°) at the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ), 32.5° (0° to 90°) at proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) (a combined deformity of 67.8°). The mean correction was 33.6° (0° to 90°) for the MCPJ and 18.2° (0° to 70°) for the PIPJ leading to a combined correction of 51.8°. There was a complete deformity correction in 21 fingers (59.5%) and partial correction in 14 digits (37.8%) with no correction in one finger. The mean residual deformities for the partial/uncorrected group were MCP 4.2° (0° to 30°), and PIP 26.1° (0° to 85°). For those achieving a full correction the mean preoperative contracture was less particularly at the PIP joint (15.45° (0° to 60°) vs 55.33° (0° to 90°)). Mean preoperative URAM scores were higher in the fully corrected group (17.4 (4 to 31) vs 14.0 (0 to 28)), but lower at three months post-surgery (0.5 (0 to 3) vs 4.40 (0 to 18)), with both groups showing improvements. Infections occurred in two patients (three digits) and both were successfully treated with oral antibiotics. No other complications were noted. The estimated cost of a fasciectomy under local anaesthetic in the community was £184.82 per patient. The estimated hospital theatre costs for a fasciectomy was £1,146.62 under general anaesthetic (GA), and £1,085.30 under an axillary block. Conclusion. This study suggests that a fasciectomy performed under local anaesthetic with adrenaline and without an arm tourniquet and in a community setting is safe, and results in favourable outcomes regarding the degree of correction of contracture achieved, functional scores, and short-term complications. Local anaesthetic fasciectomy in a community setting achieves a saving of £961.80 for a GA and £900.48 for an axillary block per case. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(10):1354–1358

Objective

To study the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) on local anaesthetic chondrotoxicity in vitro.

Intra-operative, peri-articular injection of local anaesthesia is an increasingly popular way of controlling pain following total knee replacement. At the same time, the problems associated with allogenic blood transfusion have led to interest in alternative methods for managing blood loss after total knee replacement, including the use of auto-transfusion of fluid from the patient’s surgical drain. It is safe to combine peri-articular infiltration with auto-transfusion from the drain. We performed a randomised clinical trial to compare the concentration of local anaesthetic in the blood and in the fluid collected in the knee drain in patients having either a peri-articular injection or a femoral nerve block. Clinically relevant concentrations of local anaesthetic were found in the fluid from the drains of patients having peri-articular injections (4.92 μg/ml (. sd. 3.151)). However, none of the patients having femoral nerve blockade had detectable levels. None of the patients in either group had clinically relevant concentrations of local anaesthetic in their blood after re-transfusion. The evidence from this study suggests that it is safe to use peri-articular injection in combination with auto-transfusion of blood from peri-articular drains during knee replacement surgery

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the commonest nerve entrapment syndrome. There is still controversy over the method of anaesthesia for this procedure. There have been many studies to show the effectiveness of local infiltration anaesthesia. However, patients do not always tolerate it, as one of the disadvantages of local anaesthetic is pain on infiltration. Experimental studies have shown that warming local anaesthetic can reduce the pain of injection in normal subjects. The aim of our study is to assess the effect of warming local anaesthetic for carpal tunnel surgery. We conducted a prospective randomised controlled trial. Sample size was calculated. The study group consisted of patients undergoing carpal tunnel surgery. The treatment group received local anaesthetic at 37°C, the control group at room temperature. Patients were asked to indicate the degree of discomfort on a visual analogue scale (0 to 100). There was a significant reduction in pain scores in the treatment group. Warming the local anaesthetic produced a mean visual analogue score of 13.8 versus 43 for the control group. These results were statistically significant (p< 0.05). Many carpal tunnel releases are performed under General Anaesthetic . One of the main reasons cited was poor patient tolerance to local anaesthetic infiltration due to pain. Our results show a significant reduction in the reported pain by warming the local anaesthetic for carpal tunnel release. We suggest that warming local anaesthetic should be best practice for anaesthesia in carpal tunnel release

Intra-articular injections of steroid into the hip are used for a variety of reasons in current orthopaedic practice. Recently their safety prior to ipsilateral total hip replacement has been called into question owing to concerns about deep joint infection. We undertook a retrospective analysis of all patients who had undergone local anaesthetic and steroid injections followed by ipsilateral total hip replacement over a five-year period. Members of the surgical team, using a lateral approach to the hip, performed all the injections in the operating theatre using a strict aseptic technique. The mean time between injection and total hip replacement was 18 months (4 to 50). The mean follow-up after hip replacement was 25.8 months (9 to 78), during which time no case of deep joint sepsis was found. In our series, ipsilateral local anaesthetic and steroid injections have not conferred an increased risk of infection in total hip replacement. We believe that the practice of intra-articular local anaesthetic and steroid injections to the hip followed by total hip replacement is safer than previously reported

Introduction. Local anaesthetic has been reported to have a detrimental effect on human chondrocytes both in vitro and in vivo. Magnesium, an NMDA-receptor antagonist, may be an alternative intra-articular analgesic agent following arthroscopy. We aimed to report the dose response effect of commonly used local anaesthteitc on chondrocyte viability and also report on the effect of adding magnesium to local anaesthetic. Methods. Human chondrocytes were grown under standard conditions. Cells were exposed to either lignocaine (0.5, 1, 2%), levobupivacaine (0.125, 0.25, 0.5%), bupivacaine (0.125, −.25, 0.5%) or ropivacaine (0.1875, 0.375, 0.75%) for 15 minutes. Cells were also exposed to a local anesthetic agent with the addition of magnesium (10, 20, or 50%). Cells exposed to media or saline served as controls. The MTS assay was used to assess cell viability 24-hours after exposure. Results. One-way ANOVA showed an expected dose response in all local anaesthetic groups with the exception of lignocaine. Magnesium alone was no more toxic than normal saline (P>0.3). 50% magnesium showed similar effect on cell viability to the least toxic local anaesthetic (lignocaine 1%, P=0.31). The addition of magnesium to the local anesthetic agents resulted in greater cell viability than when cells were treated with the respective local anaesthetic alone (lignocaine (P=0.033), levobupivacaine (P=0.007), bupivacaine (P<0.001), ropivacaine (P<0.001)). Conclusion. We have shown that cell viability is greater in the presence of magnesium than selected local anaesthetics and also with the addition of magnesium to local anaesthetic compared to the local anesthetic agent alone. We believe that these findings offer support to an alternative intra-articular analgesia following arthroscopy

Introduction: Despite clinical history, examination and plain radiography it is occasionally difficult to locate the origin of hip pain. This is particularly relevant where the management will be a total hip arthroplasty. Local anaesthetic arthrogram of the hip may provide a simple, safe and reliable test to determine if the hip is the source of the patient’s symptoms. The aim of this study was to establish the use of this investigation in the management of hip pain. Methods: All local anaesthetic hip arthrograms were reviewed from 1999 to 2005. All patients had completed a pain questionnaire following the arthrogram. Patients were classified into 3 groups; 1) Mild osteoarthritic changes on plain radiographs with possible referred pathology; 2) Minimal radiological changes but no obvious other pathology to refer pain; 3) Previous hip arthroplasty with unexplained pain. Those who subsequently had a primary or revision hip arthroplasty were assessed post-operatively by means of the Oxford hip score. Results: Fifty-seven patients in total underwent a local anaesthetic hip arthrogram. From all the groups 34 patients obtained pain relief and 24 proceeded to primary or revision hip arthroplasty. Twenty three (96%) had a satisfactory post-operative outcome at an average follow-up of 2 years (average Oxford score 28). The remaining 10 patients with positive arthrograms are still waiting for surgery. All negative arthrogram patients were successfully discharged. Discussion: A positive response to local anaesthetic hip arthrogram predicts a successful response to surgery. This permits accurate information of the results of hip surgery to be given to patients and aids in a management plan for a group of patients that can be otherwise challenging

Introduction. New methods to reduce inpatient stay, post-operative complications and recovery time are continually being sought in surgery. Many factors affect length of hospital stay, such as, analgesia, patient and surgeon expectations, as well as provision of nursing care and physiotherapy. Development of the use of postoperative local anaesthetic infiltration delivered intra-articularly by a catheter appears to be an effective analgesic method which reduces patient's opioid requirements and allows early physiotherapy without motor blockade of muscles. Our study aimed to explore if the use of local anaesthetic infiltration intra-articularly following joint athroplasty affected the patient's duration of hospitalisation. Methods. Looking retrospectively at arthroplasty audit data, we compared two groups of age and sex-matched patients who underwent primary hip arthroplasty (replacement and resurfacing) and knee arthroplasty performed by a single surgeon using the same surgical techniques. The surgeon began to utilize local anesthetic infiltration intra-articularly in 2009. The first group included patients operated on the year prior to the change and the second group were those operated on within a year of the change of practice. There were 103 patients (27 resurfacings, 28 knees, 48 hips) in the local anaesthetic group and 141 patients (48 resurfacings, 36 knees, 64 hips) in the non-local anaesthetic group. The length of stay was investigated for plausible Normality using the Shapiro Wilks statistic. Between-treatment group differences were examined using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Factors observed were, use of local anaesthetic (yes/no), joint (hip/knee) and day of surgery (weekend/not weekend). Between treatment group differences in gender and complications were investigated using Chi-squared methods. Results. Patients who received local anaesthetic had shorter stays, irrespective of the joint or day of operation. Patients undergoing hip arthroplasty discharged sooner when local anaesthetic was used compared with those without (mean 4.0 days and 4.4 days respectively P=0.04). Patients undergoing knee replacement also discharged sooner when local anaesthetic was used compared with those without (mean 4.9 days and 6.1 days respectively P=0.09). When knee and hip figures were combined and analysed to measure the significance of effects of treatment on the length of stay, local anaesthetic use was found to be statistically significant in reducing length of stay (P=0.01). There were no between-treatment group differences in proportions of complications, gender or day of surgery. Conclusion. The findings of this study highlight that local anaesthetic infiltration reduces duration of in-patient stay following knee and hip joint athroplasty and there is no associated significant increase in immediate post-operative complications

Abstract. Introduction. Local anaesthetic injections are regularly used for perioperative pain relief for shoulder arthroscopies. In our practice all shoulder arthroscopies were performed under general aneasthesia supplemented by perioperative subacromial local anaesthetic injections or landmark guided axillary nerve together with suprascapular nerve injections. We compared pain relief achieved with these two methods. We hypothesized that the selective nerve blocks would provide better post operative pain relief as described in literature. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on two patient groups with 17 patients each. Group one patients received 20mls 50:50 mixture of 1% lignocaine and 0.5% chirocaine injections before and after start of procedure and group two patients received 20 mls of chirocaine around the axillary and suprascapular nerves. VAS scores were collected at 1 and 4 hours and analgesia taken during the first 24 hours was recorded. Results. No significant difference in pain scores was noted but analgesia requirements in the nerve block group were higher. Conclusion. Landmark guided nerve blocks did not show any advantage over subacromial local anaesthetic in our study. This is in contrast to published literature and we believe subacromial injections are more reliable and reproducible. Declaration of Interest. (b) declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported:I declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project

Background. There are several case reports of chondrolysis following joint arthroscopy. Continuous post-operative infusion of local anaesthetic solutions, especially 0.5% Bupivacaine, has been implicated as the causative factor in many of these cases. Recent in vitro studies have shown that even a single exposure of articular cartilage to different local anaesthetic solutions can cause apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction in chondrocytes leading to cell death. There is currently no study looking at methods to prevent this toxicity of local anaesthetic solutions to articular cartilage. Glucosamine has a protective and reparative effect on articular cartilage and a Cochrane review in 2007 found that it provides mild benefit in pain and function in patients with arthritis. Aims. Oncologic: To compare the effect of a single exposure, in vitro, of different local anaesthetic solutions on human articular cartilage. To investigate the protective and reparative effects of Glucosamine on articular cartilage exposed to 0.5% Bupivacaine. Methods. Chondral explants (n = 354) were obtained from femoral heads of 14 fracture neck of patients undergoing hemiarthroplasty. To compare the effect of local anaesthetics, each specimen was exposed to one of 8 test solutions for one hour. After this exposure, the specimens were washed and incubated in culture medium containing radio-labelled 35-sulphur for 16 hours. The unbound radioactivity was then washed off and the chondral specimens were digested with proteinase for 24 hours. The uptake of 35-S by each specimen was measured and this gave an estimate of proteoglycan metabolism. Test solutions: 1. 1% Lidocaine; 2. 2% Lidocaine; 3. 0.25% Bupivacaine; 4. 0.5% Bupivacaine,. 5. 0.5% Levo-Bupivacaine; 6. Control solution of M199 culture medium. 7. To investigate its protective effect, 100 micrograms of Glucosamine was added along with 0.5% Bupivacaine; 8. To investigate the reparative effect of Glucosamine, the specimen was exposed to 0.5% Bupivacaine for one hour. After washing, 100 mcg of Glucosamine was added to the culture medium in which the chondral specimen was incubated. Results. Compared to the control culture medium, the inhibition of proteoglycan metabolism was 54% with 1% Lidocaine (p<0.001), 75% with 2% Lidocaine (p<0.01), 50% with 0.25% Bupivacaine (p = 0.04), 78% with 0.5% Bupivacaine (p<0.001) and 73% with 0.5% Levo-Bupivacaine (p<0.001). Adding Glucosamine for protection reduced the toxicity of 0.5% Bupivacaine to 43%, compared to 78% without. However, Glucosamine was not able to repair the damage caused by 0.5% Bupivacaine, with inhibition of proteoglycan metabolism at 70% even after 16 hours of incubation. Conclusion. All local anaesthetic solutions tested were toxic to articular cartilage, 0.5% Bupivacaine being the worst offender. Higher concentrations were more harmful. The addition of Glucosamine to 0.5% Bupivacaine protected against its toxicity to articular cartilage but was not able to repair the damage caused

Introduction and Objective. Wide awake local anaesthetic no tourniquet (WALANT) is being used for a wide variety of hand and wrist surgery. It has recently been used in distal radius fracture fixation. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of the WALANT technique in open reduction internal fixation. Materials and Methods. Pubmed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched on 02/03/21 with the following search terms: radius, WALANT, local anesthetic, wide awake surgery. The primary outcome measure was conversion to general anaesthetic and mean intra-operative visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores. Secondary measures were operative times, mean intraoperative blood loss, post-operative functional and radiological outcomes. Results. 110 articles were identified; eight studies were deemed eligible with 212 in the WALANT group and 247 in the comparative groups of regional anaesthesia and general Anaesthesia (GA). Two patients in the WALANT group required conversion to general anaesthesia due to anxiety rather than pain. Intra-operative VAS pain scores in the WALANT and regional anaesthetic group were 1.75 and 2.86 respectively (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in Q-DASH scores, range of motion or radiological outcomes. There was a slight increase in mean blood loss in the WALANT group compared with those given a GA or regional anaesthetic with tourniquet (22.5ml vs 12.15ml, p<0.001). Conclusions. The WALANT technique is a viable option for anaesthetic when performing distal radius fracture fixation. It is well tolerated, giving similar post-operative outcomes to other anaesthetic methods. It is a potentially useful technique in a centre with an underresourced anaesthetic department or for patients who may not tolerate regional and general anaesthetic methods. Adequate patient counselling prior to the procedure should be performed with appropriate patient selection

Introduction. Local anaesthetic has been reported to have a potentially detrimental effect on human chondrocytes both in vitro and in vivo. Due to chondroproliferative effects, magnesium may be an alternative intra-articular analgesic agent following arthroscopy. We aimed to examine the dose response effect of commonly used local anaesthetics on chondrocyte viability and also to report on the effect of adding magnesium to the local anesthetic agent. Methods. Human chondrocytes were grown under standard culture conditions. Cells were exposed to either lignocaine (0.5, 1, 2%), levobupivacaine (0.125, 0.25, 0.5%), bupivacaine (0.125, 0.25, 0.5%) or ropivacaine (0.1875, 0.375, 0.75%) for 15 minutes. Cells were also exposed to a local anesthetic agent with the addition of magnesium (10, 20, or 50%). Cells exposed to culture media or saline served as controls. The MTS assay was used to assess cell viability 24 hours after exposure. One-way ANOVA were used to test for statistical significance. Results. One-way ANOVA showed a dose response in all local anesthetic groups with the exception of lignocaine with higher concentrations leading to lower levels of cell viability. Magnesium alone was no more toxic than normal saline (P>0.3) compared to untreated cells. 50% magnesium showed similar effect on cell viability to the least toxic local anesthetic (lignocaine 1%, P=0.31). The addition of magnesium to the local anesthetic agents resulted in greater cell viability than when cells were treated with the respective local anaesthetic alone (lignocaine (P=0.033), levobupivacaine (P=0.007), bupivacaine (P<0.001), ropivacaine (P<0.001)). Conclusion. We have showed that cell viability is improved with the addition of magnesium to local anaesthetic compared to the local anesthetic agent alone. We believe that these findings offer support to an alternative intra-articular analgesia following arthroscopy. However, the optimum doses and combinations of local anaesthetic and magnesium are yet to be shown

Conventional teaching advises against using adrenaline with local anaesthetic near end-arteries due to risks of irreversible vasospasm, however there are benefits of adjunctive adrenaline including enhanced anaesthetic effect, prolonged duration and temporary haemostasis. Retrospective analysis was undertaken for all elective finger and distal palmar surgery using digital nerve or field blocks performed by four orthopaedic hand surgeons, during a two-year period in a large teaching hospital. Data collected from theatre databases and clinical notes included procedure type, anaesthetic agent, adrenaline use, tourniquet use and evidence of post-operative digital ischaemia or wound complications. 230 procedures (mean age 59 years) were performed, including 158 cases with plain anaesthetic only (2%, 1% Lidocaine or 0.25% Bupivicaine in 150, 4 and 4 cases respectively) and 72 cases with 0.25% Bupivicaine and adrenaline (1:200,000.) Mean anaesthetic volume was 7.5ml (7.2ml vs 8.0ml without and with adrenaline respectively.) Tourniquet was used in all cases without adrenaline but was not used in 21 (29%) of cases with adrenaline. Mean tourniquet time in each group was 16 minutes. Two post-operative infections occurred in the group without adrenaline with none in the adrenaline group and there were no cases of digital necrosis in either group. In the elective setting, adjunctive adrenaline with local anaesthetic does not increase the risk of post-operative infections or digital ischaemia. For proximal finger surgery, where digital tourniquets are often restrictive, using adrenaline can prevent the need for painful arm tourniquets

It has been reported that some of the local anaesthetic agents possess antimicrobial activity against clinically-significant bacteria. Although bupivacaine exhibits a bacteriostatic effect at concentrations above 0.25% there are concerns that it might interact with some of the other antibiotics administered to patients. Whilst these interactions may be potentially benign, the risk is that they are antagonistic and that local bupivacaine might predispose the patient to a higher risk of infection. Bupivacaine is commonly administered as a local anaesthetic following knee arthroplasy; the purpose of this study was to assess its potential interactions with gentamicin eluting from the cement used to fix the device. A strain of Saphylococcus aureus (29213) with established susceptible Minimal Inhibition Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) for gentamicin was used. This organism was inoculated into four types of broth; Mueller-Hinton broth (MH), MH with different concentrations of gentamicin, MH with 0.25% and 0.125% bupivacaine and MH with various combinations of gentamicin and bupivacaine. The broths were incubated at 37C and at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6 and 24 hours post inoculation the number of bacteria remaining were counted. From these data kill-curves were generated describing the absolute and individual rates of killing seen with bupivacaine and gentamicin alone and when in combination. Bupivacaine showed a bacteriostatic effect only at concentrations of 0.25% and higher. All concentrations of gentamicin above or equal to the expected MBC showed bactericidal effect. However, in combination with both strengths of Bupivacaine (0.25 and 0.125%) the bacteriocidal effect of gentamicin was seen at a lower concentration and the rate of killing of bacteria was enhanced. Bupivacaine has bacteriostatic effect at concentrations above 0.25% in line with published data. In these experiments we have shown that the use of bupivacaine together with gentamicin does not reduce the bactericidal property of the antibiotic and that the bactericidal effect of gentamicin appears to be enhanced by bupivacaine. This would suggest that the local use of bupivacaine is unlikely to increase the risk of infection in patients undergoing knee arthroplasty and may actually be beneficial

Background. Continuous post-operative infusion of local anaesthetic solutions has been implicated as the causative factor in many cases of chondrolysis. Recent in-vitro studies have shown that even a single exposure to local anaesthetic can cause apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction leading to chondrocyte death. Glucosamine has been shown to have a protective and reparative effect on articular cartilage. Aims. To compare the effect of a single exposure of different local anaesthetic solutions on human articular cartilage and to investigate the protective and reparative effects of Glucosamine on articular cartilage exposed to 0.5% Bupivacaine. Methods. Chondral explants (n=354) were obtained from femoral heads of hip fracture patients undergoing hemiarthroplasty. Each specimen was exposed to one of 8 test solutions for one hour. The specimens were then incubated in culture medium containing radio-labelled 35-sulphur for 16 hours. The uptake of 35-S by each specimen was measured to give an estimate of proteoglycan metabolism. Test solutions. 1. 1% Lidocaine 2. 2% Lidocaine 3. 0.25% Bupivacaine, 4. 0.5% Bupivacaine, 5. 0.5% Levo-Bupivacaine 6. Control solution of M199 culture medium. 7. To investigate its protective effect, 100 micrograms of Glucosamine was added along with 0.5% Bupivacaine 8. To investigate its reparative effect, Glucosamine was added after exposure to Bupivacaine for an hour. Results. Compared to the control solution, the inhibition of proteoglycan metabolism was 64% with 1% Lidocaine(p< 0.001), 79% with 2% Lidocaine(p< 0.001), 61% with 0.25% Bupivacaine(p< 0.001), 85% with 0.5% Bupivacaine(p< 0.001) and 77% with 0.5% Levo-Bupivacaine(p< 0.001). Adding Glucosamine reduced Bupivacaine toxicity to 43%(p< 0.001). Glucosamine marginally repaired the damage caused by Bupivacaine, with inhibition of proteoglycan metabolism at 70%(p=0.004). Conclusion. All local anaesthetic solutions were toxic to articular cartilage. The addition of Glucosamine to 0.5% Bupivacaine protected against its toxicity to articular cartilage

Introduction: Many patients admitted to acute fracture units with femoral neck fractures are frail and elderly, dehydrated and malnourished, often with associated medical conditions. Surgery may be delayed for investigation, prolonged management and inadequate review of their medical problems, leading to clinical deterioration with poor outcome. Local anaesthetic techniques have been described for intracapsular fractures. We describe a technique effective for the treatment of the more difficult extracapsular type. Aims: To provide a safe and effective technique using local anaesthetic and sedation, for the insertion of a dynamic hip screw in high risk elderly patients with extracapsular femoral neck fractures. Method: Fifty elderly patients who sustained an inter-trochanteric fracture of their femoral neck underwent dynamic hip screw insertion under local anaesthetic and sedation. These patients were medically assessed following admission, all were ASA grade 4, had an additional medical condition (recent MI, CVA, chest infection, aortic stenosis) and were deemed unfit for either general or spinal anaesthesia. All patients not fit for traditional anaesthetic methods were assessed for their suitability for operation under LA, consented and placed on the next available theatre list. A femoral nerve block was performed, with the aid of a nerve stimulator for accurate location, in the anaesthetic room; skin and periosteal infiltration was performed using a 22g spinal needle, with caution to include the distribution of the lateral cutaneous nerve. The patient was then placed on the fracture table and mild sedation (Ketamine, Diazemul, 02/N20) was administered, titrated against the patients requirements. The fracture was reduced using traction and internal rotation, and the DHS inserted. Local Anaesthetic:Infiltration; * 20mls O.25% marcaine/1 in 200,000 adrenaline diluted to 40mls with sterile water. (30mls used with 10mls reserved) * 20mls 1% lidocaine diluted in 40mls of sterile water. (10mls used for skin). Local Anaesthetic femoral nerve block; * 10mls 0.25% plain marcaine. The combined amount of local anaesthetic used is well below safe limits recommended by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists. Conclusion: This technique is a safe, simple and effective method of allowing high risk, medically unfit patients to undergo surgery. It reduces operative bleeding and postoperative analgesia requirements, no peri-operative deaths occurred and one patient had evidence of post operative tachycardia that settled within 12 hours

Adductor canal blocks offer an alternative to femoral nerve block for postoperative pain relief in knee arthroplasty. They may reduce the risk of quadriceps weakness, allowing earlier mobilisation of patients postoperatively. However, little is known about the effect of a tourniquet on the distribution of local anaesthetic in the limb. Ultrasound-guided adductor canal blocks were performed on both thighs of five human cadavers. Left and right thighs of each cadaver were randomised to tourniquet or no tourniquet for one hour. Iohexol radio-opaque contrast (Omnipaque 350) was substituted for the local anaesthetic for X-Ray imaging. All limbs underwent periodic flexion and extension during this hour to simulate positioning during surgery. The cadavers were refrozen. Fiducial markers were inserted into the frozen tissue. X-rays were obtained in 4 planes (AP, lateral 45° oblique/medial oblique, lateral). University Research Ethics Approval was obtained and cadavers were all pre-consented for research, imaging and photography according to the Anatomy Act (1984). Analysis of radiographs showed contrast distribution in all thighs to be predominantly on the medial aspect of the thighs. The contrast margins were entire and well circumscribed, strongly suggesting it was largely contained within the aponeurosis of the adductor canal. Tourniquets appeared to push the contrast into a narrower and more distal spread along the length of the thigh compared to a more diffuse spread for those without. Proximal spread towards the femoral triangle was reduced in limbs without tourniquets. The results suggest that contrast material may remain within the adductor canal structures during adductor canal blocks. Tourniquets may cause greater distribution of contrast proximally and distally in the thigh, but this does not appear to be clinically significant. Further studies might include radio-stereo photometric analysis using the fiducial markers in the limbs and in vivo studies to show the effect of haemodynamics on distribution

Abstract: Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain for which medical care is sought. It is associated with significant morbidity placing activity limitations on the patients. The response of plantar fasciitis to any treatment is unpredictable. Many different modalities of treatment are used in its management. Injection of plantar fascia with local anaesthetic and steroids under general anaesthesia was carried out in 50 patients who had a clinical diagnosis of plantar fasciitis of greater than 3 month duration. Following induction of general anesthesia, a 20-gauge needle was guided toward and into the plantar fascia. 5mls of local anaesthetic and steroid was injected into the proximal plantar fascia. The patients were followed up over a mean of 6 months. Pain intensity was graded on an 11-point visual analog scale (VAS). Questionnaires with the VAS were filled out after treatment to determine the effectiveness of the procedure. The mean pain score decreased by 5.4 points. There were no complications during or after the procedure. Patients were questioned in relation to their occupational, athletic and recreational activities pre and post the injection. Injection of the plantar fascia under general anaesthesia is a safe and effective method for the relief of conservatively unmanageable heel pain due to plantar fasciitis. A larger patient population and a greater than 1 year follow up would be helpful to determine the long term benefits & outcomes of this treatment

Polymethylmethacetate (PMMA) is a bone cement used in over 725,000 primary hip arthroplasties in 2018. Cement integrity is affected by external factors, including temperature, mixing technique and moisture uptake, which can influence cement microstructure. Changes in the cement microstructure may ultimately threaten the survivorship of the implant. The introduction of enhanced recovery and various local anaesthetic infiltration techniques have been adopted in an attempt to facilitate early mobilisation and reduce length of stay. Our study aims to investigate if the mechanical properties of PMMA are altered with exposure to Ropivacaine LA. Cements were cured in three separate states (air, serum and serum with LA) and the mechanical properties tested at 24 hours and 28 days. Using Refobacin bone cement provided by ZimmerBIOMET, cylindrical molds (12×6mm) were constructed with a split-mold. The LA used was 2mg/ml Ropivacaine hydrochloride solution. Using pilot data, this study was powered to 80% and a sample size of 10 per group (n=60) was calculated. Cement samples were subjected to compressive loading using a universal testing apparatus (Zwick/Roell). Yield-strength and modulus values were extracted from the respective stress versus strain curves. Significant differences were determined by one-way anova for each time point, and Bonferroni post-hoc testing to determine significance between actual groups. At 24-hours there were no significant differences in strength or modulus between groups. At 28-day strength and modulus increased in all groups. Compared to the air group, both serum and LA groups show a significant decrease in compressive strength. The modulus for the LA group is significantly less stiff compared to the air group. The results suggest that the initial exposure to LA has a significant impact on the physical properties of the PMMA. We propose increased awareness of the potential effects this may have on the longevity and survivorship of cemented implants

We report a case of iatrogenic sciatic nerve injury caused by pre-operative intraneural injection of local anaesthetic at total hip replacement. To our knowledge, this is unreported in the orthopaedic literature. We consider sacral nerve blockade in patients undergoing total hip replacement to be undesirable and present guidelines for the management of peri-operative sciatic nerve injury