Combined popliteal and saphenous nerve block vs NSAIDS for post operative analgesia in below knee surgery patients: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Peripheral nerve blocks are becoming increasingly popular to control postoperative pain in orthopaedic limb surgeries. An outstanding feature of nerve block is its lack of adverse effects, reduced requirement of analgesics and better patient satisfaction. To compare the efficacy of combined popliteal and saphenous nerve block with NSAIDS for postoperative pain relief in below knee surgery patients. We performed a prospective randomized study involving seventy patients. All patients underwent an elective orthopaedic procedure below knee under spinal anaesthesia. Thirty five patients had received a combined popliteal and saphenous nerve block and the rest thirty-five received intravenous NSAIDS at the end of surgical procedure. Post operative VAS Score, time for first rescue analgesia, total diclofenac requirement, total anti-emetic requirement and complications if any were noted.: The statistical power of sample was 80% and type I error (α) of 0.05. The distribution of the data was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test. For data with a non-normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney U test was used in intergroup comparisons. The data were expressed as the median, minimum and maximum (min-max). For comparison of postoperative analgesic use, the chi-square test was used, and complication rates were compared using a cross-ratio test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant in all the analyses.: Patients with a combined popliteal and saphenous nerve block had significantly less pain at six hours, twelve hours and twenty four hours (p value <0.001) postoperatively. Time for request of rescue analgesia was prolonged. Total diclofenac and anti emetic requirement was also reduced. Also higher level of satisfaction was achieved among this group of patients. : A combined popliteal and saphenous nerve block provides significantly better postoperative pain relief than NSAIDS in patients who underwent below knee surgeries.