Analgesic efficacy of stimulating catheter of two different methods for continuously postoperative femoral nerve block

Objective To compare the analgesic efficacy of two different methods of continuous femoral nerve after knee arthroscopy.Methods Eighty patients for elective knee arthroscopy were assigned to two groups randomly, accurate femoral nerve catheter placement(group RA)and traditional catheter placement(group RT)with 40 cases each. The continuous femoral nerve catheters were placed after the continuous epidural anesthesia was established with 1.73% carbonated lidocaine. After the surgeries, 0.2% ropivacaine 5 ml/h was given through femoral nerve catheter. VAS at rest in postoperative 2,6,24,48 h , satisfaction,side effects and additional analgesic dose were recorded. Results VAS at rest in group RA was lower than group RT at 2,6 h postoperation significantly(P0.01). There was no significant difference in the VAS at rest and satisfaction between the two groups at 24,48 h postoperatively. There was no headache, nausea and vomiting, urinary retention and other adverse reactions observed in both groups. Conclusion The efficacy of analgesia was improved in group RA significantly at 2 h and 6 h postoperatively when compared with that in group RT, but no difference at 24 h and 48 h postoperatively.