Will I be put to sleep for hand surgery, or can it be done with a local?

Picture a blood pressure cuff that stays tight for the whole procedure. That is roughly what the tourniquet is. During hand surgery it is placed on the arm, and it stays on for as long as the procedure takes. With only a numbing injection, that pressure on the arm can become very painful. So Dr. Knight rarely operates with a local anesthetic alone. For simple procedures such as trigger finger, finger cyst or De Quervain's surgery, he usually uses light sedation. For carpal tunnel and most larger hand and wrist procedures, he uses general anesthesia.

Light sedation, which anesthesia teams call monitored anesthesia care, is medicine given through an IV that helps you relax. You stay awake, and many people do not remember being in surgery.¹ A large sterile drape keeps the surgery itself out of your view.¹

For finger surgery, Dr. Knight uses a finger nerve block along with IV sedation. For a large wrist procedure, he uses an arm block for pain relief after surgery.

Some surgeons operate under a nerve block alone, which numbs the whole hand or arm.¹ Some surgeons operate wide awake, with a local anesthetic and no tourniquet at all.¹ The right choice depends on the procedure, your health, and what you, the surgeon and the anesthesiologist decide together.¹

Dr. Knight's hand surgery is performed at Legent Surgical Hospital in Plano. That is a hospital and it is not one of our offices; some directory listings name a different Legent facility in Carrollton, and that is not where he operates. Office visits with Dr. Knight are at our Southlake office on weekdays or our Plano office on Tuesdays. To book a visit first, start with Dr. Knight's hand surgeon profile.

• Which type of anesthesia will I have for my procedure?
• Do I need someone to drive me home?
• When should I stop eating and drinking beforehand?
• How long will the hand stay numb afterward?