A Comparison Between Femoral Nerve Block and Local Infiltration Analgesia With Ropivacaine: A Prospective , Comparative and Observational Study

Abstract

Background: postoperative pain is a type of acute pain in the immediate postoperative period which has both pathophysiological and therapeutic point of view. Different drugs through different routes are being used for relief of postoperative pain. we have analysed the efficacy of two different routes via femoral nerve block and local infiltration of ropivacaine for post-arthoscopic pain relief. Materials and methods: we have conducted the study from November 2017 to March 2018.60 patients undergoing arthoscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery wer randomly assigned into two groups;in a double blinded manner( group 1 and group 2). Group 1 received 0.2% of 20ml ropivacaine for blocking the femoral nerve of the affected limb whereas group 2 received the same drug through local infiltration of wound edges and subcutaneous plane. Pain was assessed using visual analogue scale(VAS) and rescue analgesia with 75mg injection diclofenac was given on demand when VAS score is >4 and number of times injection diclofenac was given in the 24 hours postoperative period. Analysis: demographic variables were quite comparable between the groups. The mean number of times of rescue analgesia was high in group 2 (2.9333+/-0.9444) than group 1 whose mean number of rescue analgesia was 1.4667+/- 0.7761 and difference of mean was statistically significant ( p<0.0001). Conclusion: compared with local infiltration of ropivacaine femoral nerve block with ropivacaine provides better analgesia after ACL reconstruction with lesser diclofenac consumption and lower VAS score.