Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and quality of postoperative analgesia by adding continuous femoral nerve block with ropivacaine (CFNB) to continuous epidural analgesia with ropivacaine (CEPA) for bilateral total knee arthroplasty (B-TKA). Methods: Thirty patients undergoing B-TKA in our hospital were included in this study. Postoperative pain intensities were recorded using visual analog pain scale (VAS) scores (0-100 mm) up to 48 hr after B-TKA, both at rest and during movement, following CEPA and CFNB in one leg (CFNB side). Analgesic effects and side effects on the CFNB and non-CFNB sides were compared in the same patient. Results: VAS scores were sig-nificantly different between the CFNB and non-CFNB sides (p < 0.001-0.05) both at rest and during movement. Supplemental analgesics, in the form of rectal suppositories and intramuscular injections, were used to reduce postoperative pain on the non-CFNB side. All patients complained of pain postoperatively only on the non-CFNB side. Six patients experienced nausea and another 6 experienced numbness of the leg as side effects. Conclusions: The present study indicates that CEPA combined with CFNB for analgesia following B-TKA could be a more suitable analgesic method than CEPA alone to reduce postoperative pain, both at rest and during movement, with few side effects.
