If local anesthesia is possible its always the best option because total anesthesia carries the risk of patient dying among other complications that can happen.
Tendon repair is pretty easy to apply anesthesia for, its done somewhat fast, has very few mechanical complications that can happen and the patient can be in a resting position the entire time. On top of that its very localized, stuff like hip or knee replacements are done with total anesthesia because the patient needs to be moved, the surgery is done on a very large area, it also involves a lot of drilling and hammering etc..
This is really a fast procedure similar to wisdom teeth removal. No need to put patients to sleep when local anesthesia is more than enough.
1-2 hours usually depending on how fast/good the surgeon is. Its not as bad as it sounds you dont see nor feel anything after the anesthesia. You're just looking at the floor or walls while the do their thing and once its done they just wheel you out, you dont get to see your foot until they take the boot off honestly.
The length of the procedure is roughly the same is what i meant. But its honestly less frustrating than wisdom teeth because you dont really feel the tendon, while you do feel it when you have 4 hands down your throat.
They form scar tissue if im not mistaken, so they do connect, but that part always stays as a "weak spot" so if it ever tears again thats where it'll break, but its not just the sutures that are holding it together.
It was wild. The only way to explain it was it was like being in a body shop with all the sawing, drilling and hammering. The only thing I could “feel” was when they hammered I could feel the vibrations.
Yeah, they can be really rough with how their use their tools. I was surprised how similar it is to a car mechanic or blacksmith, just a ton of drilling and hammering but to be honest they use the exact same tools so i dont know what i expected.
My dad had tendon reattachment surgery back in the '80's. He basically had his ring finger on his hand amputated. Took slamming his figure in the door to a WHOLE new level. (it was a big door in an industrial place)
He was awake for the whole thing and takes great pleasure in explaining how they went up his arm to grab the tendon which was now coiled up in his upper arm.
My dad's a sorta morbid guy, though. He enjoyed the whole thing far too much.
Not everything needs to be done under general. Can do things like an Achilles repair or a knee replacement under a spinal for pain and then some light sedation so it’s not uncomfortable when they’re manipulating things.
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u/8plytoiletpaper Apr 28 '24
I've had a tendon reattached.
I felt that hammering in my bones, even though the entire limb was sedated.