Comparison of the efficacy of femoral nerve block and fascia iliaca compartment block in patients with total knee replacement.

Background: Blocking the femoral nerve reduces postoperative pain and analgesic consumption in patients who have undergone total knee and hip replacement surgery. A limited number of studies have compared the efficacy of the fascia iliaca compartment and femoral nerve block techniques. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the analgesic effectiveness of fascia iliaca compartment block (FIB) and femoral nerve block using ultrasound.

Methods: A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into two randomized and equal groups (Group I had patients who underwent fascia iliaca compartment block, N.=50; Group II had patients who underwent femoral nerve block, N.=50). Visual Analogue Scale levels (VAS) in the postoperative 30th min and 1st, 2nd, 6th, 12th and 24th hours and the amounts of analgesic consumption were recorded. The Quality of Recovery-40 (QoR-40) questionnaire was completed by patients 24 hours after surgery.

Results: The VAS level at the 24th hour was significantly lower in Group I compared to Group II. Analgesic consumption between 0-30th minutes was lower in Group II than in Group I; however, it was significantly lower in the 6-24 hours of Group I compared to Group II. The QoR-40 score was found to be significantly higher in Group I than Group II.

Conclusions: Femoral nerve block provided more potent analgesia in the first six hours after operation. After six hours, FIB demonstrated better pain control. The quality of postoperative recovery was higher in patients with fascia iliaca compartment block.