To compare early ambulation and ability to participate in rehabilitation in patients undergoing total knee replacement using two different nerve block techniques for pain control. The 2 methods are 1) Adductor canal block with posterior capsular injection 2) femoral nerve block with tibial nerve block
Early mobilization in the postoperative period is important to the success of surgery following total knee replacement. However, severe post-operative pain is an impediment to early implementation of rehabilitaion program. The use of femoral nerve block combined with tibial nerve block as part of a multimodal analgesic program provides effective pain control but causes weakness of the operative extremity preventing patients from bearing weight, exercising the leg and increasing the risk of falls thereby delaying early participation in rehabilitation. Adductor canal block is a new technique that has been described to provide pain control after total knee arthroplasty (1). The advantages of this block is that it could potentially minimize lower extremity weakness because the target nerve (saphenous nerve) blocked in this technique is a purely sensory nerve and does not provide any motor innervation to any muscle groups. Adductor canal block lends itself easily to providing prolonged analgesia because a perineural catheter can be inserted and the block maintained by a continuous infusion of dilute local anesthetic solution for days. A disadvantage of this method is that it may not provide adequate analgesia for posterior knee pain in the early postoperative period. By combining adductor canal block with ultrasound guided posterior and antero-medial knee injection, the posterior knee pain can be controlled effectively. Posterior and antero-medial knee injection of local anesthetic solution has been used as a method of controlling posterior knee pain after total knee arthroplasty (2).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
56
Continuous Adductor canal block with 15-30ml of ropivacaine 0.1% with epinephrine 1:400,000 followed by an infusion of ropivacaine 0.1% at 6 ml per hour for 2 days post operatively. This is combined with ultrasound guided posterior capsular knee injection with 30 ml ropivacaine 0.1% with epinephrine 1:400,000.
Continuous femoral nerve block with 15 ml of ropivacaine 0.1% followed by an infusion of ropivacaine 0.1% at 6 ml per hour for 2 days after surgery combined with tibial nerve block in the popliteal fossa with ropivacaine 0.1% up to 15 ml.
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Ability to ambulate post operatively.
Ability to ambulate and perform tasks of the rehabilitation program and reach rehabilitation milestones after total knee arthroplasty.
Time frame: Up to 3 days (72 hours) post surgery.
Pain scores at rest and with knee flexion.
Measures of pain score using numeric pain rating scale (0=no pain, 10=worst pain) completed by patient in recovery room and every 6 hours for a 72 hour period after discharge from recovery room.
Time frame: Up to 3 days ( 72 hours) after surgery
Pain Medication Consumption
Amount of opioid consumption post surgery for 72 hours.
Time frame: Up to 3 days (72 hours) post surgery
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