Study Gives Peripheral Nerve Blocks Thumbs Up

The use of peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) is associated with better medical outcomes in patients who are having hip and knee replacement surgery, according to a recent study. PNBs involve injecting medication around specific nerves that supply the areas of surgery and their use reduces pain and the need for pain medications such as opioids. According to an article in Newswire, the use of PNBs is on the rise but they are still not used routinely in hip and knee joint replacement surgeries.

Stavros G. Memtsoudis, M.D., Ph.D., FCCP, Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Public Health at the Weill Cornell Medical College and Senior Scientist and Attending Anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery presented the study results at an April awards luncheon for the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting.

The study researchers looked at more than 1 million cases of hip and knee arthroplasty over a seven-year period. They compared the rate of complications such as heart attack, lung, gastrointestinal, kidney complications, stroke, infection, clots; inpatient falls and mortality in those receiving a PNB to those without the intervention. They also looked at resource utilization such as the need for blood transfusion, admission to intensive care, opioid consumption, length of stay, and cost of hospitalization.

In terms of both complications and resource utilization, PNBs were associated with better outcomes than when the intervention was not used irrespective of anesthesia type chosen. The researchers concluded that increased use of PNBs in patients receiving knee and hip reconstruction and replacement could have a significantly positive impact on outcomes—both medical and economic.