Ultrasound-guided anterior iliopsoas muscle space block compared with fascia iliaca compartment block in elderly hip surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Elderly hip fracture patients experience severe pain. Surgical stress and pain during position changes for spinal anesthesia puncture can adversely affect hemodynamics. The objective of this study was to compare the perioperative analgesic efficacy of anterior iliopsoas muscle space block with supra-inguinal fascia iliaca compartment block (S-FICB) in elderly patients undergoing hip surgery.

Method: In this randomized control trial, 66 patients were randomly assigned to either the iliopsoas space or the S-FICB group. Each patient received 30 mL of ropivacaine 0.375%. Perioperative pain scores were assessed and compared in both groups. The primary outcome was pain scores during changes in position for neuraxial anesthesia. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain intensity, inflammatory markers for 12 to 24 hours, and perioperative adverse reactions.

Results: The iliopsoas space group demonstrated a faster median block onset of 7 [6-8] minutes compared to S-FICB 14.50 [13-16] minutes (P < .001). Neuraxial anesthesia position changes resulted in lower pain scores for iliopsoas 2 [1-2] versus S-FICB 3 [3-4] (P < .001). Resting pain scores were similar at 12 hours post-surgery, but during exercise, the iliopsoas group had significantly lower scores [1-2] compared to S-FICB 4 [2-4] (P < .001). After 24 hours, C-RP levels were lower in the iliopsoas group (14.86 ± 1.23 mg/L) than S-FICB (17.90 ± 1.25 mg/L) (P < .001). The 2 groups differed from one another (P < .001). These findings suggest that iliopsoas space block may offer faster, superior dynamic pain control, and potentially reduced inflammation compared to FICB block for postoperative pain management.

Conclusion: In elderly hip fracture patients, the anterior iliopsoas space block works slightly better than S-FICB at providing effective perioperative analgesia.