OBJECTIVE Hip fractures are a common source of acute pain amongst the frail elderly. One potential technique to adequately manage pain in this population is the femoral nerve block. The objective of this systematic review was to provide updated evidence for the use of femoral nerve blocks as a pain management technique for older hip fracture patients in the emergency department (ED). Data Sourc...

Patients frequently experience postoperative pain after a total knee arthroplasty; such pain is always challenging to treat and may delay the patient's recovery. It is unclear whether local infiltration or a femoral nerve block offers a better analgesic effect after total knee arthroplasty.We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to compare local infilt...

PURPOSE The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize the evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding approaches and techniques for lower extremity nerve blocks. SOURCE Using the MEDLINE (January 1966 to April 2007) and EMBASE (January 1980 to April 2007) databases, medical subject heading (MeSH) terms "lumbosacral plexus", "femoral nerve", "obturator nerve", "s...

Ultrasound imaging used to facilitate performance of a femoral nerve block also affords imaging of adjacent anatomical structures. Following a fracture of the femur, an ultrasound guided femoral nerve block (UGFNB) was performed to provide analgesia; this led to the incidental finding of a previously undiagnosed femoral vein thrombosis (DVT), resulting in a change in patient management before s...

This article follows an In-depth piece published in last week's issue, which explored issues around pain management in older people following fractured neck of femur. It also discussed using femoral nerve block for pain relief in this group of patients. This Changing Practice article outlines the establishment of a nurse-led service to improve pre-operative pain management using femoral nerve b...

We read with great interest the article of Wang et al.1 concerning the use of continuous local anesthetic infusion via catheters placed with ultrasound guided and nerve stimulator beside femoral nerve for postoperative analgesia after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We congratulate them on the presentation of the article. However, we would like to add some comments. We agree with author that reh...

The adductor canal block (ACB) is newer compartment block of the saphenous nerve, which is a branch of femoral nerve, performed at the level of lower third of the thigh so that much of the motor innervation of the quadriceps group is spared, thus preserving much of the quadriceps strength making early ambulation and rehabilitation safer. The most significant advantage of the ACB over femoral ne...

In recent years, adductor canal block (ACB) has been introduced as an alternative for femoral nerve block with a great advantage of preserving or minimally reducing quadriceps strength. The technique is relatively easy and is performed under ultrasound guidance. Despite growing evidence regarding efficacy and safety of ACB following knee surgery, use of ACB is still limited to high volume ortho...

The anaesthetic management of children with glycogen-storage disease type IIa (Pompe's disease) presents a variety of challenges. A modification of a femoral nerve block, the inguinal paravascular block, as described by Winnie, was used in conjunction with intravenous ketamine to provide anaesthesia for a diagnostic muscle biopsy in a 5.5-month-old infant with Pompe's disease. A peripheral nerv...

UNLABELLED In 1973, Winnie et al. introduced the inguinal paravascular three-in-one block, which allegedly provides anesthesia of three nerves--the femoral, lateral cutaneous femoral, and obturator nerves--with a single injection. This concept was undisputed until the success of the obturator nerve block was reassessed by using evidence of adductor weakness rather than cutaneous sensory blockad...