• Michele Carella, Florian Beck, Nicolas Piette, Sébastien Denys, Jean-Pierre Lecoq, and Vincent L Bonhomme.
• From the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Liege University Hospital (MC, FB, NP, J-PL, VLB), Inflammation and Enhanced Rehabilitation Laboratory (Regional Anaesthesia and Analgesia), GIGA-I3 Thematic Unit, GIGA-Research (MC, NP, J-PL), Anaesthesia and Perioperative Neuroscience Laboratory, GIGA-Consciousness Thematic Unit, GIGA-Research (FB, VLB) and Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Sports Traumatology, Liege University Hospital, Liege, Belgium (SD).
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2023 Sep 1; 40 (9): 660671660-671.

BackgroundPain after a posterolateral approach for total hip arthroplasty (THA) may affect early functional recovery. Supra-inguinal fascia iliaca (SFIB) and pericapsular nerve group (PENG) blocks have been proposed as promising analgesia techniques.ObjectivesThis trial was conducted to compare a PENG with a SFIB for controlling postoperative pain and for providing functional recovery.DesignNoninferiority monocentric randomised controlled study.SettingOne hundred and two patients scheduled for a total hip arthroplasty via the posterolateral approach under spinal anaesthesia were prospectively allocated to two groups. Data acquisition occurred between October 2021 and July 2022 at the University Hospital of Liege.PatientsOne hundred and two patients completed the trial.InterventionsGroup SFIB received supra-inguinal fascia iliaca block (SFIB) (40 ml ropivacaine 0.375%), whereas group PENG received a PENG block (20 ml ropivacaine 0.75%).Main Outcome MeasuresRest and mobilisation pain on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale at fixed time points: 1 and 6 h after surgery, on day-1 and day-2 at 8 a.m.,1 p.m. and 6 p.m. On day-1 and day-2, evolution of quality-of-recovery-15 score was assessed, and timed-up-and-go, 2 and 6 min-walking tests. The noninferiority margin was set as 1 numeric rating scale point 6 h after surgery.ResultsSix hours after surgery, pain scores in group PENG were noninferior to those of group SFIB, with a difference between medians at 0 (95% CI -0.93 to 0.93). There were no significant differences between the groups regarding rest and dynamic pain trajectories during the first 48 postoperative hours, with no significant effects of group (rest P  = 0.800; dynamic P  = 0.708) or interaction between group and time (rest P  = 0.803; dynamic P  = 0.187). Similarly, no significant differences were observed regarding motor and functional recovery as assessed by timed-up-and-go ( P  = 0.197), 2 min ( P  = 0.364), and 6 min walking ( P  = 0.347) tests and quality-of-recovery-15 ( P  = 0.417) score.ConclusionFollowing a total hip arthroplasty via the posterolateral approach, a PENG block is noninferior to SFIB regarding postoperative pain control 6 h after surgery, and functional recovery.Trial RegistrationEuropean Clinical Trial Register under EudraCT-number 2020-005126-28 ( https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2020-005126-28/BE ).Copyright © 2023 European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

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