Use of a Single Injection Femoral Nerve Block in the Patients of Total Knee Replacement with Concomitant Epidural Analgesia

Since central neuraxial analgesia cannot provide adequate post operative pain relief when it is used alone in patients who had undergone Total Knee Replacement Surgery (TKR), an alternative analgesic method is usually advised. The alternatives include either systemic analgesics (opioids, Non Steroidal Anti Inflamatory Drugs, [NSAIDs], etc) or peripheral nerve blocks. When complete analgesia is aimed in such patients, combining the sciatic nerve blocks along with the Femoral Nerve Blocks (FNBs) will be beneficial. But performing femoral and sciatic nerve blocks together in patients with regional or general anaesthesia will be too cumbersome and in this direction, the major clinical trials are yet to decide on their feasibility. Thus, in an attempt to keep the analgesia methods very simple and effective, the physicians may decide on doing a single nerve block when an ongoing epidural analgesia infusion is in situ.