NCT02701296

Posterior Capsular Injection With Femoral Nerve Block for Total Knee Arthroplasty

Assessment of Knee Pain in Patients Receiving Continuous Femoral Nerve Block Combined With Either Ultrasound Guided Posterior Capsular Injection or Selective Tibial Nerve Block Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (actual)
• Sponsor: Trinity Health Of New England · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Conditions

• Posterior Knee Infiltration

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Ropivacaine with Epinephrine	Posterior capsular injection - ultrasound guided infiltration of Ropivacaine with Epinephrine between popliteal artery and capsule of knee above the femoral condyles
DRUG	Ropivacaine	Tibial nerve block - ultrasound selective Ropivacaine tibial nerve block in the popliteal fossa

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-11-07
• Primary completion: 2014-08-31
• Completion: 2014-08-31
• First posted: 2016-03-08
• Last updated: 2018-10-03
• Results posted: 2017-06-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States