• Pietro M Roberti del Vecchio, Thierry Christen, Wassim Raffoul, and Paolo Erba.
• Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
• J Reconstr Microsurg. 2015 Mar 1; 31 (3): 187-90.

BackgroundUlnar nerve decompression at the elbow traditionally requires regional or general anesthesia. We wished to assess the feasibility of performing ulnar nerve decompression and transposition at the elbow under local anesthesia.MethodsWe examined retrospectively the charts of 50 consecutive patients having undergone ulnar nerve entrapment surgery either under general or local anesthesia. Patients were asked to estimate pain on postoperative days 1 and 7 and satisfaction was assessed at 1 year.ResultsOn day 1, pain was comparable among all groups. On day 7, pain scores were twice as high when transposition was performed under general anesthesia when compared with local anesthesia. Patient satisfaction was slightly increased in the local anesthesia group. These patients were significantly more willing to repeat the surgery.ConclusionUlnar nerve decompression and transposition at the elbow can be performed under local anesthesia without added morbidity when compared with general anesthesia.Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

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