Clinical trial NCT02008617: Analgesic Benefits of Genicular Nerve Blocks of the Posterior Knee for Patients Undergoing ACL Reconstruction
Official title: Analgesic Benefits of Genicular Nerve Blocks of the Posterior Knee for Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: TERMINATED
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Rupture of Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
Lead sponsor: Northwestern University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-12-11
Enrollment: 18
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 70
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Outpatients scheduled to have ACL surgery typically receive a femoral nerve block to provide analgesia for the front of the knee. Postoperatively, these patients will often report pain in the back of the knee. Local anesthetic infiltration of the posterior aspect of the knee results in blockade of the genicular nerves of the posterior knee. These nerves originate off of the tibial and common peroneal nerves and their blockade will result in improved posterior knee pain relief and may decrease narcotic consumption compared to patients who receive the same infiltration with normal saline.

Detailed description: Femoral nerve blocks are commonly used to provide postoperative analgesia for ACL surgery. The limitation of these blocks is the incomplete analgesia they provide of the knee joint subjecting the patient to posterior knee pain. As a result, some of these patients receive rescue sciatic blocks in the postoperative care unit to cover posterior knee pain. The sciatic block provides excellent analgesia for the posterior knee; however its blockade invariably affects other territories of the sciatic nerve such as the lower leg and foot. For ACL surgery, the loss of sensation and/or motor strength to this area is unnecessary and may make ambulation more difficult. The ability to ambulate with minimal assistance may be more important for a patient undergoing an outpatient surgery when compared to an inpatient surgery.

At the posterior knee, the sciatic nerve branches off into the tibial and common peroneal nerves which give rise to sensory fibers that innervate the posterior knee. We propose targeting these terminal fibers in the popliteal fossa by infiltrating local anesthetic between the distal femoral shaft and popliteal artery thereby providing posterior knee analgesia without affecting the lower leg.This application of this block has not been studied in patients having ACL surgery. A single interim analysis is scheduled after the data for 50 cases are available.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. patients who are presenting for ACL reconstruction
2. candidates for peripheral nerve blocks patients
3. ASA 1-3

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patient refusal
2. ASA Classification of 4 or higher
3. Pre-existing neuropathy in the femoral or sciatic distribution
4. Coagulopathy
5. Infection at the site
6. Non-English speaking or non-reading patients
7. Chronic opioid use (\>3months)
8. Pregnancy
9. Any other contra-indication to regional anesthesia
10. Failed femoral nerve block
11. Sciatic nerve block placed due to severe pain not managed by intravenous and oral agents.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Opioid Consumption
timeFrame: 24 hours
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Pain Score
timeFrame: Pain Burden at 24hrs
measure: Patient Satisfaction
timeFrame: 24hr
measure: Quality of Recovery (QoR15)
timeFrame: 24hrs
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
state: Illinois
Study officials:
affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
name: Rohit Rahangdale, M.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: