Hi, all. Long story short:

2012: Surgery for right thumb contracture. That surgeon said he had removed the "pulley" so the thumb would never contract. And indeed, it hasn't. Total success.

2022: Surgery for left thumb contracture. I had asked surgeon to also operate on the left index finger which had started to contract. He said to leave it alone. He also did not remove the pulley.

2024: Left index finger further contracted; left thumb contracting again. Did needle release with only local anesthesia, which was terribly painful.

1.5 years later here I am with further contraction in left index finger and thumb. So now I am torn between needle release and surgery.

Surgeon says he could give me sedation for the needle release, but it would not be pain free as I need to be awake enough to tell him if he's getting too close to a nerve. That scares me, as the pain was so intense during the needle release.

Has anybody had needle release under sedation? How bad was it compared to local anesthesia?

Or should I just do surgery again? I'm 51 years old. No palmar chords. Knuckle pads on most fingers.

Edited 02/27/2026 19:24

Hi pixi,
I had needle release about 10 years ago. I was fully awake and had a little local anaestesia - and no pain at all. When did it hurt for you? When you got the injection or when the doctor poked the cord or when he tried to break it? As Henry wrote, the patient must be awake to report tingling when the needle approached a nerve.

Wolfgang

Good to still see you guys here!

SB, in that second example it sounds like the patient was out for the entire procedure, which is what I was hoping for. Maybe things have changed in the past 10 years and surgeons want the patient more awake?

Wolfgang, it was crazy painful for everything—both the local anesthesia injections (of which I had over a dozen), and the needling. Never screamed so much in my life, not even in childbirth.