are static, there's no
anesthesia chart and
less monitoring is
needed.
"The other thing
that's really great for
the patients is that we
don't have to tell them
not to eat or drink,
and we don't have to
adjust their medica-
tion schedules," she
adds. "We expect
them to eat breakfast
and we expect them
to take their pills as
they normally would."
The only caveat:
Patient selection is
key. "They have to be
well prepped. They
have to know they're going to be awake and are going to hear us,
and that we expect them to speak up if they have any discomfort,
because we'll take care of it," says Ms. Pelkey. "For patients who
haven't seen the inside of an operating room before, it can be a little
nerve-wracking."
But many patients do love the technique, insists Dr. Lalonde, who
says patients can speak to the surgeon during the case and have their
questions answered, and they don't have any tourniquet pain or nau-
6 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 8
• ADD ON Injecting local anesthetic at the incision site during knee replacement
surgery augments the analgesic effects of regional blocks.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
