Regional anesthesia for foot and ankle surgery.

We present our experience with the use of regional anesthesia in 1295 of 1862 (69.5%) surgical procedures of the foot and ankle between 1986 and 1989. Regional anesthesia was used for surgical procedures of the forefoot, midfoot, hindfoot, and ankle in the setting of elective surgery and trauma. From the viewpoint of the surgeon, regional anesthesia was completely successful in 95% of the procedures performed. Sample patient surveys confirmed that 87% of patients were satisfied with the use of regional anesthesia for their operative procedure. There were four (0.3%) minor complications, one being lidocaine toxicity. With increasing experience, the expanded indications and uses of regional anesthesia for foot and ankle surgery are proving to be simple, safe, reliable, and well tolerated by the patient.