Posterior Capsular Injection With Femoral Nerve Block for Total Knee Arthroplasty

Trinity Health Of New England

Status: Completed

Conditions: Posterior Knee Infiltration

Treatments: Drug: Ropivacaine with Epinephrine; Drug: Ropivacaine

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02701296

11-10-004

Details and patient eligibility

About

To assess pain control after total knee replacement surgery using two different nerve block techniques. The 2 methods are:

1. Continuous femoral nerve block with ultrasound guided posterior capsular injection
2. Continuous femoral nerve block with ultrasound selective tibial nerve block.

Full description

Patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery experience severe post-operative pain. Continuous femoral nerve block combined with selective tibial nerve block provides optimal pain control in the anterior and posterior aspect of the knee respectively. However, in patients with pre-existing neuropathy of the sciatic nerve, the blockade of tibial nerve is contraindicated because of increased risk of nerve damage that may lead to exacerbation of neurologic symptoms. In such patients where selective tibial nerve block cannot be offered, ultrasound guided posterior knee capsular injection may be an alternative technique for controlling posterior knee pain after surgery. Posterior capsular injection by surgeons intraoperatively, when combined with femoral nerve block has been shown to provide pain control after total knee replacement. With posterior capsular injection, the main trunk of the tibial nerve is spared and only the terminal nerve endings innervating the posterior knee joint is blocked providing effective pain control. In this study, the efficacy of ultrasound guided posterior capsular injections performed pre-operatively will be compared to tibial nerve block in controlling knee pain after surgery.

The results of this study may help establish the efficacy of ultrasound guided posterior capsular injection as an alternative to tibial nerve block in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 80 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patients having primary, unilateral total knee arthroplasty
• Age 18-80

Exclusion criteria

• History of neurologic disease, neuropathy, diabetes, or major systemic illness
• Allergy to local anesthetic solution or NSAIDs
• Pregnancy
• Chronic use of narcotics
• Inability to give consent/cooperate with study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Posterior capsular injection

Experimental group

Description:

Ultrasound guided posterior capsular injection of ropivacaine with epinephrine

Treatment:

Drug: Ropivacaine with Epinephrine

Tibial nerve block

Active Comparator group

Description:

Ultrasound selective tibial nerve block of ropivacaine

Treatment:

Drug: Ropivacaine