Clinical trial NCT03033589: Femoral Nerve Block Versus Adductor Canal Nerve Block for Peri-Operative Analgesia Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction: Evaluation of Post-operative Pain and Strength
Official title: Femoral Nerve Block Versus. Adductor Canal Nerve Block for Peri-Operative Analgesia Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Evaluation of Post-Operative Pain and Strength
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Pain
Keywords: Pain control
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL_ Reconstruction)
Regional Anesthesia
Lead sponsor: Henry Ford Health System
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-01-27
Enrollment: 78
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: All patients over the age of 16 undergoing primary or revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with the use of bone-patellar-bone autograft are eligible for the study. Patients will be randomized pre-operatively to receive either an adductor canal nerve block (single injection) or a femoral nerve block (single injection). Post-operatively, the primary outcome measures of pain level using visual analog scale as well as narcotic and non-narcotic analgesic requirements will be measured.

Detailed description: Currently, because of its good track record, femoral nerve block is the modality of choice for post-operative pain control following elective anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction at our institution. It has been proven in the literature to provide good post-operative pain analgesia following this procedure (1). However, femoral nerve block is not without its concerns, including the concern for long-term quadriceps weakness (2). Benefits of decreased use of Femoral Nerve Block include the decreased incidence of side effects and/or complications, and use of quadriceps for immediate rehabilitation. Benefits of Adductor canal nerve block include possible equivalent pain control with the avoidance of motor de-innervation and its deleterious adverse effect of quadriceps weakness postoperatively. Adductor canal nerve block has proven to be effective in other orthopaedic procedures involving the knee including total knee arthroplasty (3). This results of this study will give more information on how to better control pain in the post-op period while minimizing the deleterious side effects for patients undergoing ACLreconstruction.

All patients over the age of 16 undergoing primary or revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with the use of bone-patellar-bone autograft are eligible for the study. Patients will be randomized pre-operatively to receive either an adductor canal nerve block (single injection) or a femoral nerve block (single injection). A single dose of 30 mL of 0.25% marcaine is injected for femoral nerve block and 20 mL of 0.25% marcaine for Adductor Canal nerve block. These procedures will be performed by the attending anesthesiologist prior to surgery. After surgery the patient will record their pain levels using visual analog scale (VAS) score in a daily diary for the first 5 post-operative days. They will also record all medication requirements, both narcotic and non-narcotic analgesic medications. The patient will be tested on their ability to perform a straight leg raise in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and at their first post-operative visit.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Primary ACL Reconstruction with use of Bone-Patellar-Bone Autograft
* Age 16 or older

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients under 16
* The use of Allograft,
* The use of hamstring autograft
* The use quadriceps autograft
* Patients allergic to active ingredients in the injection.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Visual Analog Scale
timeFrame: Post-op Day 0-5
measure: Narcotic Requirement
timeFrame: Post-op Day 0-5
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Thigh circumference
timeFrame: 2 weeks post-operative vs 6 months post-operative
measure: Straight Leg Raise
timeFrame: 0-7 days post-operative
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Detroit
country: United States
facility: Henry Ford Health System - CFP 642
state: Michigan
Study officials:
References:
citation: Guirro UB, Tambara EM, Munhoz FR. Femoral nerve block: Assessment of postoperative analgesia in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Braz J Anesthesiol. 2013 Nov-Dec;63(6):483-91. doi: 10.1016/j.bjane.2013.09.001. Epub 2013 Dec 5.
citation: Luo TD, Ashraf A, Dahm DL, Stuart MJ, McIntosh AL. Femoral nerve block is associated with persistent strength deficits at 6 months after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in pediatric and adolescent patients. Am J Sports Med. 2015 Feb;43(2):331-6. doi: 10.1177/0363546514559823. Epub 2014 Dec 2.
citation: Kim DH, Lin Y, Goytizolo EA, Kahn RL, Maalouf DB, Manohar A, Patt ML, Goon AK, Lee YY, Ma Y, Yadeau JT. Adductor canal block versus femoral nerve block for total knee arthroplasty: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Anesthesiology. 2014 Mar;120(3):540-50. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000119.
citation: Lynch JR, Okoroha KR, Lizzio V, Yu CC, Jildeh TR, Moutzouros V. Adductor Canal Block Versus Femoral Nerve Block for Pain Control After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Prospective Randomized Trial. Am J Sports Med. 2019 Feb;47(2):355-363. doi: 10.1177/0363546518815874. Epub 2018 Dec 17.