Ultrasound Guided Sciatic, Femoral, Obturator nerve block versus Lumbar Spinal Block in Knee Arthroscopy

Abstract

Ambulatory arthroscopic knee procedures have become increasingly common due to the effectiveness of the anaesthesia techniques that facilitate rapid and safe discharge. The minor invasivity of arthroscopic knee surgery requires alternative loco- regional techniques to general anaesthesia. The regional anaesthesia is less invasive, allows adequate anaesthesia, easy reproducibility, shorter hospital stay with a reduction in costs and satisfaction for surgeon, patient and anaesthesiologist. The most common techniques used are unilateral spinal anaesthesia and combined sciatic- femoral and obturator nerve block, Ultrasound guided anaesthetic procedures have given a new life to traditional skills. The non-invasive real-time imaging of the relevant anatomical structures with the needle is placed under direct vision and the spread of local anaesthetic can be seen within the potential space, with faster onset times, reduced doses of local anaesthetic, and higher and more predictable success rates, particularly in the more difficult cases, The increasing availability of small, high-resolution