I guess if you think you have a bad hematoma with a possible deep venous thrombosis in the field and decide to fix it yourself with surgery, you might use your homemade lidocaine here to help with the incision.
The fact that this guy didn’t have a stroke or heart attack from throwing a clot, or infection after doing this to himself is amazing.
You have to love the Internet.
And please, don’t do this.
Hogwarts School of Grid-Down Medicine and Wizardry 
Vodka is a good anticoagulant!
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Really about as dumb as it gets taking a sterile injury and opening it up to bacteria.
People like this should not have lidocaine as their nerves are the only things trying to stop them from stupid hurts.
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😀 Yup.
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Certainly doesn’t look like the first time he’s made an incision or explored/drained a wound, he’s too confident and practiced. His aseptic technique could be better.
I spent the better part of the morning trying to figure out why someone with some obvious experience in medicine would do this. ACS, right? He injured his leg climbing a couple hours before, maybe not all that badly, but he recognizes the symptoms of ACS developing and, hopefully with no better options available, decides to release the pressure in the anterior compartment to relieve the pain so he can continue the trek back to camp.
Could make sense in some situations? A correct diagnosis, no way to call for help, his climbing partner/photographer is his teenage son/daughter he’s not going to send off on their own to get help maybe?
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On the one hand he made sure to sterilize the scalpel blade in the small burner but then stuck his ungloved finger far inside the wound and then sutured the laceration closed? Not sure which would be worse, the hematoma and possibility of deep vein thrombosis or a very bad case of sepsis…??
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