Quadratus Lumborum Block as a Rescue Block Following Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Abstract

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common surgical procedure for various hip diseases that has been associated with severe postoperative pain. A multimodal pain management regimen is a mandatory component to successful rehabilitation and patient satisfaction. By incorporating regional blocks into the perioperative surgical home model for THA, we help to achieve the “triple aim”: a better patient experience, better health care, and lower costs [1]. Traditionally, neuraxial analgesia has been the mainstay for analgesia for this set of patients. With the advent of ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks such as fascia iliaca (FI) blocks, more practitioners have begun to perform the latter type of procedure. Recently, quadratus lumborum (QL) blocks have gained attention as a suitable option for analgesia for various types of surgeries, including hip arthroplasty [2]. A QL block is an ultrasound-guided fascial plane block that has been found to be easy to perform...