• Alon Burg, Yehezkel Tytiun, Steven Velkes, Snir Heller, Barak Haviv, and Israel Dudkiewicz.
• Rabin Medical Center, Petach-Tikva, Israel. dr.alonburg@gmail.com
• Foot Ankle Int. 2011 Jun 1; 32 (6): 595-8.

BackgroundForefoot surgery is often performed under regional anesthesia in awake patients, using tourniquet or Esmarch bandage to obtain a bloodless field. The purpose of this study was to examine the value and need for local tourniquet pain control using local subcutaneous analgesic mixture in patients undergoing forefoot surgery under ankle block anesthesia.Materials And MethodsWe prospectively randomized 56 patients who underwent forefoot surgery under ankle block to receive either subcutaneous local anesthetic mixture under the tourniquet or no additional anesthetic. We checked for local tourniquet pain score (VAS 0 to 100) and skin condition during and after the procedure.ResultsThe tourniquet was quite tolerable in both groups, with an average VAS score of 7 to 21. No difference was observed between groups throughout most of the procedure. No correlation between VAS scores and procedure length or patient's age or gender was found.ConclusionAn ankle tourniquet was well-tolerated by patients without need for local anesthetic beneath the cuff.

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