• Levent Sahin, Halil Fatih Korkmaz, Mehrican Sahin, and Güneri Atalan.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey. drlsahin@hotmail.com.
• Agri. 2014 Jan 1; 26 (3): 113-8.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of ultrasound (US) guided single-injection femoral nerve block (FNB) spinal anesthesia on pain control, morphine consumption, adverse effects, and patient satisfaction during the postoperative 48-hour period in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA).MethodsOne hundred four ASA physical status I-III patients undergoing single TKA for degenerative joint disease were enrolled in this clinical study. Patients were randomly distributed into two groups: US-guided single-injection FNB with 40 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine and 1:200,000 epinephrine was administered to Group F (n=51) patients. Preservative-free saline was injected in Group P (n=53) patients using the same method as Group F. Pain scores, morphine consumption, incidences of adverse events, and patient satisfaction were assessed over the course of 48 hours.ResultsGroup F used significantly less morphine compared with Group P (18.7 mg vs. 39.6 mg) during the first 48 hours after surgery (p<0.001). When compared with group P, the VRS scores both at rest and during movement were significantly lower in Group F at 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours after TKA (for all comparisons p<0.001). In addition, patient satisfaction was better in Group F than Group P.ConclusionThis study suggests that a US-guided single-injection femoral nerve block following TKA improves patient satisfaction and reduces consumption of morphine during the first 48 hours.

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