Results of Surgical Treatment of Distal Radius Fractures under the Walant Anesthesia Technique: A Report of 12 Cases

Introduction: The term WALANT (Wide Awake Local Anesthesia and No Tourniquet) refers to an anesthesia technique whose principle, similar to that of tumescent local anesthesia, is based on infiltration of the operating site by a local anesthetic (LA) solution associated with a vasoconstrictor: adrenaline [1]. We report the functional results in the per and immediate postoperative period of surgical management of fractures of the distal end of the radius under the WALANT. Methodology: This was a prospective descriptive study. It involved 12 patients with a distal radius fracture treated by pinning under WALANT between 2022 and 2023. For each patient, age, sex, duration of surgery, visual analogue scale during surgery, operating time, time spent in the recovery room and patient satisfaction were collected. Wrist mobility and the visual analogue scale were used to assess our results. Result: There were 9 women and 3 men. According to the AO/OTA classification, the fractures were type B (39.1%). The fractures were open in 5 cases (types 1 and 2 according to the Cauchoix and Duparc classification). The average time to surgical management was 8 hours. The average duration of surgery was 17 minutes. The average VAS during surgery was 2.3 (+/？1.6). The time spent in the recovery room was on average 30 minutes and the patient satisfaction rate was 96%. Conclusion: WALANT is a reliable, inexpensive, and safe technique. It allows for intraoperative wrist functional assessment. Today, it should be part of our therapeutic arsenal in the surgical treatment of EDR fractures.