Comparison of Local Only Anesthesia Versus Sedation in Patients Undergoing Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Release

The study design is a prospective randomized control trial. Four surgeons will enroll up to 30 patients in the study. Patients will be asked to participate if they plan to undergo bilateral carpal tunnel release with one of the study surgeons, are greater than 18 years of age but younger than 89, have had no prior carpal tunnel surgery, and agree to undergo carpal tunnel surgery under two different types of anesthesia. If patients meet these criteria and agree to participate in the study, they will be consenting to have one hand operated on with local only anesthesia and the other hand with local anesthesia with sedation. The patient will randomly be assigned to have one of the two anesthetic methods for the first carpal tunnel release, followed by the other anesthetic for the second carpal tunnel release. The two surgeries will be completed by the same surgeon and may be performed at any time interval apart; however, the investigators will recommend that patients get the second surgery within 4 weeks of the first. The particular surgical technique of carpal tunnel release will be performed according to the individual surgeon's preference, but the same technique will be used on both wrists. The surgeon will discuss the proposed advantages and disadvantages of each anesthetic method prior to enrolling the patient (advantages and disadvantages discussed above). The treating surgeons will continue to utilize their standard surgical technique on each side, regardless of a patient's participation in the study.