Srinivas Rapolu1, G. V. Sasidhar2, Syed Ali Aasim3
BACKGROUND Total knee replacement causes moderate-to-severe pain requiring effective analgesia. With use of ultrasound guidance, we may prove a more suitable approach compared with the epidural technique. Aim of this study is the comparison between Continuous Epidural Analgesia (CEA) and Continuous Femoral Block (CFB) techniques in Total Knee Replacement surgeries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted on 60 adult male and female patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery for a period of 2 years. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group - 1: Continuous epidural analgesia patients, Group - 2: Continuous femoral blockage patients. All patients were assessed clinically preoperatively and investigated to rule out any systemic disease.
RESULTS
The mean age of patient in Group - 1 was 66.54 ± 4.98 and in Group - 2 was 66.98 ± 5.02 years. P value was > 0.05, which was not significant. No significant differences in gender is observed between the groups. VAS scores were significantly high (P < 0.05) in the femoral group at 6 h, after which there was a declining trend and scores were essentially similar from 24 h. The use of rescue analgesic was also higher in the femoral group. Analysis of side-effects showed that all the five common side-effects were twice as common in the epidural group than in the femoral study group. Only one patient in the femoral group had urinary retention when compared with four in the epidural group. The differences were not statistically significant. Muscle power at 48 h, time getting out of the bed and time stay in hospital (days) are significant in comparison in 2 groups, range of movement is insignificant in groups. Patient satisfaction score was measured on a scale of 1 - 10. Patients in the Femoral group were slightly more satisfied with a mean ± SD score of 8.1 ± 1.2 when compared with the epidural group 7.3 ± 1.01.
CONCLUSION
Continuous femoral blockade using US guidance provides equivalent analgesia with a lower incidence of common side-effects when compared with continuous epidural analgesia.
