Anaesthetic digital block with epinephrine vs. tourniquet in ingrown toenail surgery: a clinical trial on efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Current evidence shows that anaesthetic digital block with epinephrine is safe in surgical selected patients. There are no controlled studies that have examined the efficacy of local anaesthesia with vasoconstrictor in chemical matricectomy without using tourniquet to control bleeding.

OBJECTIVES: A controlled, prospective and randomized study was conducted to examine primarily the rate of recurrence after segmental phenolization matricectomy with anaesthetic digital block with epinephrine vs. tourniquet. As secondary aims, duration of anaesthetic effect, post-operative bleeding and pain were analysed in both groups.

METHODS: Forty-four healthy subjects with ingrown hallux nails (70 toes) were enrolled. A total of 34 toes were anaesthetized with a solution of 2% mepivacaine with (1 : 100,000) epinephrine and operated without tourniquet (experimental group) vs. 36 toes anesthetized with a solution of 2% mepivacaine without epinephrine and operated with tourniquet (control group).

RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in recurrence rates (P = 0.478). Post-operative bleeding was significantly higher in the group with anaesthetic digital block without vasoconstrictor and with tourniquet (P = 0.001). Anaesthetic effect was higher in the group with anaesthetic digital block with vasoconstrictor and without tourniquet (P = 0.001). No post-operative complications occurred in any of the treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONS: The use of local anaesthetic with vasoconstrictor to perform chemical matricectomy likely to be an effective procedure to reduce the disadvantages of using digital tourniquet (post-operative bleeding and lower anaesthetic effect) without increasing the risk of recurrence. The addition of epinephrine may reduce the need for a tourniquet and produce better and longer perioperative pain control.