Surgical release of the median nerve under local anaesthesia for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel release was performed under local anaesthesia in 124 wrists of 108 patients. The local anesthetic was injected into the carpal tunnel and into the subcutaneous tissue under the line of the skin incision. A tourniquet was used in all cases. Analgesia was complete in all but six patients. Only one patient had real difficulty in tolerating the tourniquet. In 18 cases the median nerve, when exposed at operation, showed evidence of some damage caused by the needle or by injection of local anaesthetic but, at follow-up, no symptoms or signs related to this damage were found.