Surgery
Hi dr bland
I have got a surgery date for next Friday 11th with a dr Nichols or Nicholson? Just wanted to know what he is like as wanted Andrew smith.
Also I am really scared as they do it under local and I suffer really bad with anxiety so don't know how I will cope. Is there anybody that will do this under a GA for me as I'm petrified
Regards
Vicky
That would be great if you could as I'm petrified. Thank you
Regards
Vicky
Hi, Dr Bland emailed me regarding your concerns. The vast majority of people who come to hospital are anxious about their procedure, that is entirely normal and to be expected.
I am a surgical care practitioner and have been part of Mr Smiths hand surgery team for three years. He taught me to carry out carpal tunnel surgery on his behalf and I have completed over 400 procedures in the last 2 years. This is a fairly straight forward operation and should not be particularly traumatic. As with most experiences of this kind, it is often the thought of what might happen that is worrying, rather than the actual reality. General anaesthetic in itself carries some not insignificant risks and to subject you to those risks for this procedure would have to be very carefully considered. I will do everything I can to put your mind at rest and will explain everything that needs to be done at the appropriate time (That is if you want to know). Some people bring their ipod and listen to music as a distraction to what is going on. The procedure takes about 8 - 10 minutes and should only be slightly uncomfortable. What is it specifically that you are worried about? If you let me know I may be able to put your mind at rest.
Thank you got your reply. I'm worried about the whole procedure, pain from the injections to numb the area and also feeling pain during procedure. I suffer with severe anxiety and have never been awake for anything I have had to have done before.
Am I allowed to take a couple of diazepam to relax me a bit prior surgery?
Regards
Vicky
Ok, no problem with you taking your normal medication (Diazepam) before the surgery, several of my/Mr Smith's patients in the past have done this to good effect. The local anaesthetic injection, given to numb the hand should not be more than uncomfortable. Obviously pain is a very subjective sensation and what one person finds painful someone else doesn't. I have administered probably in excess of 500 local anaesthetic median nerve blocks to facilitate carpal tunnel decompression and only a handfull of patients have found it very uncomfortable. I will inject very slowly which lessens the discomfort and will talk you through every step of the procedure. The actual operation should be completely pain free. Very, very occasionally a small top-up of local anaesthetic is needed. To assist the surgeon with carrying out the procedure, a tourniquet which is a bit like a blood pressure cuff, is put on your upper arm and because it is quite tight this can sometimes be uncomfortable. However the operation is very short and the cuff is removed as soon as possible. I hope this helps. See you on Friday
Michael Nicholas does a lot of the surgery for Mr Smith - so you are under Mr Smith's team - they work together. I'll try to persuade him to answer you directly on here as you probably need to have a bit of a discussion about anaesthesia - you may need to come in ahead of the surgery date to talk it over. JB