Hallux valgus – anaesthesia

In foot surgery, ensuring a pain-free operation and minimising postoperative pain have always been major challenges. 

It is commonly believed that recovery after foot surgery, especially hallux surgery, is very painful. 

There are many options for anaesthesia during procedures on the foot. 

Modern anaesthesiology aims, wherever possible, to use regional anaesthesia techniques – from central blocks such as spinal and epidural anaesthesia, commonly known as lumbar anaesthesia, to peripheral nerve blocks at various levels performed under ultrasound guidance, especially when operating on one foot. 

The possibility of using a particular type of anaesthesia depends mainly on the extent of surgery and any coexisting conditions. 

The final choice of anaesthesia is agreed with the patient during the preoperative assessment interview. 

Use of ultrasound in anaesthesiology for peripheral nerve blocks has enabled highly precise regional anaesthesia. 

Our many years of experience have changed our perioperative approach, both to anaesthesia itself and to the postoperative period. 

For foot surgery, peripheral nerve anaesthesia, known as an ankle block, means injecting a local anaesthetic around the nerves at the appropriate level. 

These anaesthetics are highly precise because the nerves responsible for pain sensation are clearly visible on ultrasound and medication delivery is fully controlled. This can substantially reduce or even eliminate the need for pain medication early after surgery. 

For many patients, one of the most important advantages is that sensation above the knee is preserved in the operated leg and, most importantly, lumbar anaesthesia is avoided, which patients do not always accept. 

Another important advantage is that walking can begin very soon after the procedure. 

During the postoperative period, administering pain medication at regular intervals under ultrasound guidance around the nerves responsible for pain enables patients to pass through this period as comfortably and painlessly as possible.