Ultrasound Nerve P value (N=21) Stimulation (N=21) Imaging time 22.5 (19.6) NA NA Performance time 162.1 (125.8) 231.3 (210.9) .138 Onset time 307.5 (157.8) 300.0 (236.0) .920 Total anesthesia-related 480.1 (251.9) 554.0 (366.9) .443 time Success rate (%) 20.0 (95.2) 16.0 (76.2) .125 Number of passes 3.2 (2.9) 9.5 (12.2) .009 Block-related pain 4.6 (2.2) 4.0 (2.2) .139 (VAS score) Incidental
femoral block 1.0 (4.8) 0(0) >.999 All time variables are in seconds.
Patients receiving sciatic-femoral block required less analgesic than the patients who received
femoral block alone.
In comparison to the femoral nerve block alone, the sciatic/
femoral block combination has been shown to be more effective in reducing both the amount of associated-pain and the amount of anesthetic solution used after ACL repairs.
Pain control after total knee arthroplasty: a randomized trial comparing local infiltration anaesthesia and continuous
femoral block. Acta Orthopaedica 2011; 82: 441-447.
Continuous
femoral block provides potent postoperative analgesia following both anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) (1,2) and total knee joint replacement (TKJR) (3) and is increasingly being used on an ambulatory basis (1,4,5).