Obturator nerve block does not provide analgesic benefits in total hip arthroplasty under multimodal analgesic regimen: a randomized controlled trial. Marty Philippe,Chassery Clement,Rontes Olivier,Vuillaume Corine,Basset Bertrand,Merouani Mehdi,Marquis Constance,Delussy Anne,Delbos Marie-Claude,Ferre Fabrice,Bataille Benoit,Joshi Girish,Delbos Alain Regional anesthesia and pain medicine BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Although regional analgesia is considered an important component of optimal pain management, use of peripheral nerve blocks for total hip arthroplasty remains controversial. Since the obturator nerve innervates the anteromedial part of the joint capsule, we hypothesized that an obturator nerve block would decrease the opioid consumption after total hip arthroplasty. METHODS:In this single center, prospective, triple blinded study, we randomly allocated 60 patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty under opioid-sparing total intravenous general anesthesia to a preoperative obturator nerve block or a sham block (placebo group) using 20 mL of ropivacaine 0.2% or saline, respectively. All patients received a multimodal analgesic regimen with non-opioid analgesics including periarticular local infiltration analgesia. The primary outcome was the intravenous opioid consumption in the post-anesthesia care unit. RESULTS:Median (IQR) intravenous oxycodone consumption in the post-anesthesia care unit was 4 (2, 7.5) mg in the obturator nerve block group and 3 (0, 4) mg in the placebo group (p=0.05). There were no differences in pain scores between groups in the first 24 hours except at arrival on the surgical ward with significant higher pain scores in the placebo group (p=0.03). The ability to stand up and walk within 24 hours was comparable between groups as was the time to first walk (180 (90, 720) vs 240 (120, 780) min for the obturator nerve block and placebo groups, respectively; p=0.62). CONCLUSIONS:Obturator nerve block did not improve postoperative opioid consumption after total hip arthroplasty performed under general anesthesia with a multimodal analgesic regimen. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NCT04085640. 10.1136/rapm-2021-102531

Hospital-, anaesthetist-, and patient-level variation in peripheral nerve block utilisation for hip fracture surgery: a population-based cross-sectional study. British journal of anaesthesia BACKGROUND:Unwarranted variation in anaesthesia practice is associated with adverse outcomes. Despite high-certainty evidence of benefit, a minority of hip fracture surgery patients receive a peripheral nerve block. Our objective was to estimate variation in peripheral nerve block use at the hospital, anaesthetist, and patient levels, while identifying predictors of peripheral nerve block use in hip fracture patients. METHODS:After protocol registration (https://osf.io/48bvp/), we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using linked administrative data in Ontario, Canada. We included adults >65 yr of age having emergency hip fracture surgery from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2018. Logistic mixed models were used to estimate the variation in peripheral nerve block use attributable to hospital-, anaesthetist-, and patient-level factors with use of peripheral nerve block, quantified using the variance partition coefficient and median odds ratio. Predictors of peripheral nerve block use were estimated and temporally validated. RESULTS:Of 50 950 patients, 9144 (18.5%) received a peripheral nerve block within 1 day of surgery. Patient-level factors accounted for 14% of variation, whereas 42% and 44% were attributable to the hospital and anaesthetist providing care, respectively. The median odds ratio for receiving a peripheral nerve block was 5.73 at the hospital level and 5.97 at the anaesthetist level. No patient factors had large associations with receipt of a peripheral nerve block (odds ratios significant at the 5% level ranged from 0.86 to 1.35). CONCLUSIONS:Patient factors explain the minimal variation in peripheral nerve block use for hip fracture surgery. Interventions to increase uptake of peripheral nerve blocks for hip fracture patients will likely need to focus on structures and processes at the hospital and anaesthetist levels. 10.1016/j.bja.2021.10.011