ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the effect of continuous femoral nerve block (CFNB) with patient controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) on pain relief,rehabilitation efficacy,satisfaction degree following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in an attempt to find a safe and effective analgesia at the stage of rehabilitation.Methods The records of 116 patients undergone unilateral TKA for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis of the knee were evaluated.The patients with preoperative American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score of 1 to 3 were randomized into CFNB group (58 cases) and PCIA group (58 cases) according to the random number table.Both operations were performed under ultrasound guidance.Postoperative visual analogue score (VAS),knee function,incidence of adverse reaction,and satisfaction degree were compared between the two groups.Results Regardless of the score at postoperative 4 and 12 hours,VAS between CFNB and PCIA groups revealed significant differences at postoperative 24 [(3.2±1.1)pointsvs (4.1 ±1.5)points],48 [(3.4±1.2)pointsvs (4.1 ±1.0) points] and 72 hours [(3.3 ± 1.2) points vs (4.0 ± 1.1) points] (all P ＜ 0.05).Time to achieve knee rehabilitation training objectives like straight leg raise,walking with crutches,and passive bending to 90° were similar between the two groups.Both groups achieved comparable knee function status with respect to Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score,Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score,and maximal knee flexion angle at postoperative 3 months.Postoperative nausea and vomit were significantly more frequent in PCIA group (24％) than in CFNB group (14％) (all P ＜O.05),but patients in both groups were satisfactory.Conclusion Ultrasound guided CFNB is an effective analgesic method during the early stage of TKA,for it can control pain,accelerate rehabilitation training and function recovery,reduce adverse reaction as well as improve patients' satisfaction.