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Greater patient perception of pain relief found with nerve blocks used in fracture repair
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Patients who received peripheral nerve blocks as part of their postoperative analgesia protocol following surgical repair of tibia and ankle fractures reported a better quality of recovery at 24 hours postoperatively and were more satisfied compared with patients who only received systemic analgesia, according to study results.
Nabil Elkassabany, MD, MSCS, and colleagues prospectively evaluated 93 patients who underwent surgery for tibial or ankle fractures. Of these patients, 54 received peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) as part of their postoperative regional analgesia and 34 patients did not receive PNBs. A research assistant who was blinded to treatment allocation administered the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire at 24 hours postoperatively to determine patient satisfaction and quality of pain management. The short version of the Quality of Recovery Questionnaire was used to measure the quality of recovery at 24 hours and 48 hours postoperatively.
Results showed the PNB group had a significantly higher patient satisfaction score vs. the comparison group. The comparison group also had a significantly higher sum of adverse effects and pain impact on negative emotions vs. the PNB group.
At 24-hours postoperatively, both groups had similar average pain scores; however, the PNB group had a significantly lower median worst pain score at 24 hours. Better quality of recovery was observed at 24 hours in patients who received PNB, but this difference between groups was not significant at 48 hours. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: Elkassabany reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a full list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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