Comparative Study of Fascia Iliaca Block vs. Femoral Nerve Block for Postoperative Pain Management in Hip Fractures
Keywords:
Fascia Iliaca Block, Femoral Nerve Block, Hip Fracture, Postoperative Pain, Regional Anesthesia, Numeric Rating Scale.Abstract
Introduction: An effective postoperative analgesia as part of hip fracture management is key in optimising the recovery of a patient. Of the available regional specific techniques of administration of Anesthesia, the Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block (FICB), and the Femoral Nerve Block (FNB) have become routine in regards to perioperative Anesthesia of Hip surgery. However, there is still a scholarly debate concerning the relative efficacy of the two procedures. For this reason the study that will be conducted aims to critically evaluate and compare the analgesic strength of the FICB and FNB when it comes to ensuring a postoperative pain relief of elective hip arthroplasty patients.
Methodology: It was a prospective, randomized, and comparative study done at Central Park Teaching Hospital, Lahore between June 10, 2024, and December 9, 2024. Eighty individuals coming to elective hip arthroplasty were recruited into two groups randomly: FICB and FNB. All subjects were given spinal anesthesia. The assessment of pain applying the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) was conducted both prior to the nerve block operation and within the action of spinal anesthesia. The data are interpreted using SPSS version 25.0 with p-value of p 0.05.
Results: The score pain at the time of pre-block did not differ between the two groups (p=0.196). Nonetheless, the participants in the fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) group reported significantly reduced pain scores during spinal anesthesia positioning (1.90±0.74) when compared to those registered in the fascia neutraflex block (FNB) group (2.78±0.83) post-the commencement of the procedure (p=0.001).
Conclusion: Comparison of fentanyl with caudal bupivacaine (FICB) with fascia iliaca nerve block (FNB) used in reducing preoperative pain during spinal anesthesia positioning in individuals undergoing hip arthroplasty inception showed a significant difference in the pain reduction (p<0.05) with FICB being more effective. It can, therefore, be concluded that FICB is the most optimal local anesthetic method that should be used in the preoperative pain management of hip fracture surgical procedures.




