A comparison between two techniques of local anaesthesia in lower limb orthopaedic surgeries

Abstract

Moderate orthopaedic surgical procedures are being increasingly performed on an outpatient basis. However, due to the complexity of the sensory supply to the lower limb, either a central block or multiple peripheral blocks are necessary for providing adequate anaesthesia. On one hand, epidural or spinal anaesthesia are unnecessary and even undesirable for unilateral operations; on the other, the perfonnance of several peripheral blocks is time-consuming and increases the dangers of inaccurate injection and systemic toxicity.

For the preVIous reasons, we presented in our study two regional anaesthetic techniques for the lower limb. The first is sciatic nerve block combined with the femoral "3 in 1", and the second is sciatic nerve block combined with the posterior approach to the lumbar plexus block.

The purpose of this study was to compare between the two previously mentioned regional anaesthetic techniques, and to detennine their effectiveness for moderate surgical procedures on a single lower limb.