The Use of Arm Tourniquet in Unilateral Carpal Tunnel Release: Does It Actually Have Advantage on Surgical Time & Clinical Outcome ?

초록

Objective To compare surgical time and operation preparing time, as well as clinical outcome of unilateral carpal tunnel release (CTR) between the groups which used tourniquet and those whom did not. Methods Of 53 cases of unilateral CTR under local anesthesia from 2011 to 2015, 35 were performed by using forearm tourniquets, while the other 18 were done without using tourniquets. The two groups were compared in terms of surgical time, total operating room(OR) time, preparing time and post-operative clinical outcomes by patients’ satisfaction with the service. Results The mean surgical time was slightly shorter in cases performed with forearm tourniquets (31.63±6.86 vs. 33.33±4.75 min, p>0.05), however did not show any statistical significance. The mean total OR time (53.20±9.26 vs. 51.22± 7.03 min, p>0.05) also did not show any statistically significant differences between groups. However, the mean preparing time for surgery was shorter in the no-tourniquet group with statistical significance (17.89±4.44 vs. 21.57±7.72 min, p=0.03). All 53 patients revealed excellent or good surgical outcome, and there were no difference between two groups. Conclusion The use of forearm tourniquet in unilateral CTR operation under local anesthesia did not influence the actual surgical time nor the clinical outcomes, however did significantly reduce the preparing time for surgery. Therefore, considering the additional time needed for preparation without advantage on the surgical time or clinical outcomes, the use of tourniquet for this specific procedure is not optimal but optional, and can be selected following the surgeons preference.

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