WALANT
Pronunciation: WAH-lant
Also written as: WALANT — Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet
Wide awake local anesthesia with no tourniquet technique used in hand surgery.
Full Definition
WALANT (Wide Awake Local Anesthesia No Tourniquet) is an anesthetic technique that uses local anesthetic with epinephrine to provide hemostasis and anesthesia without sedation or tourniquet use. This approach allows patients to actively participate during surgery by moving digits to test tendon repairs and reconstructions in real-time. The technique reduces costs, eliminates anesthesia-related complications, and enables same-day discharge for many procedures. It has revolutionized many hand surgery procedures, particularly flexor tendon repairs where active motion testing ensures adequate repair tension.
Usage
Usage note: Always capitalize as an acronym; avoid using tourniquet with this technique.
In Context
- "The flexor tendon repair was performed using WALANT technique with intraoperative active motion testing." — Operative report
- "WALANT allows for cost-effective outpatient hand surgery with immediate functional assessment." — Surgical planning note