• Anahi Perlas, Philip W H Peng, Miguel Barrera Plaza, William J Middleton, Vincent W S Chan, and Khashayar Sanandaji.
• Department of Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2003 Mar 1;28(2):98-102.

Background And ObjectivesTourniquet pain during intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) of the upper limb is common and can limit tourniquet inflation time. We hypothesize that a forearm rescue cuff is better tolerated than the traditional rescue cuff of a double-cuff tourniquet.MethodsAfter Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and informed consent, 10 healthy unmedicated volunteers took part in a prospective, randomized, cross-over study. Following inflation of the proximal tourniquet cuff on the upper arm, a standardized IVRA with 0.5% lidocaine, 0.6 mL/kg was administered. When the volunteer complained of tourniquet pain, or at 30 minutes, the initial cuff was changed to a rescue cuff. During session A, the rescue cuff was the traditional distal cuff of the double-cuff tourniquet. During session B, a single forearm cuff was used. When the volunteer experienced the same level of tourniquet pain, the rescue cuff was deflated and the study session ended. The tourniquet time for the rescue cuff, the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, and the incidence and duration of side effects were recorded.ResultsThe forearm rescue cuff was tolerated significantly longer than the arm rescue cuff (49 +/- 15 v 29 +/- 11 minutes, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7 to 32 minutes, P ConclusionsA forearm rescue cuff is better tolerated than an arm cuff double tourniquet during IVRA, allowing for longer tourniquet times. It is also associated with lower pain scores and shorter duration of local anesthetic side effects.

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