Optimizing Local Anesthetic Concentration for Continuous Femoral Nerve Blocks

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2011-04-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This is a randomized, observer-masked, controlled study. Subjects will be patients undergoing bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One side (left or right) will be randomized to one of two treatment groups: a postoperative ropivacaine concentration of 0.1% or 0.4%. The contralateral side will receive the other possible ropivacaine concentration of 0.1% or 0.4%. The basal rate and patient-controlled bolus volume will depend upon the treatment group, but the total dose of local anesthetic is the same for each. For the duration of the study, all patients will receive the current usual and customary analgesics for bilateral TKA patients. All patients will receive a ropivacaine perineural infusions initiated in the operating room and continued until at least the afternoon of postoperative day (POD) 2, as well as oral acetaminophen, a sustained-release oral opioid; and celecoxib. Rescue opioid and route of administration will be determined by pain severity using a Numeric Rating Scale of 0-10, with 0 equal to no pain and 10 being the worst imaginable pain.

• Phase: Phase 4
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of California, San Diego
• Collaborator: The Cleveland Clinic
• Treatments: Anesthetics; Anesthetics, Local

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Primary, bilateral TKA

• Age 18 years or older

• Postoperative analgesic pain includes bilateral continuous femoral nerve blocks

Exclusion Criteria:

• Chronic, high-dose opioid use

• History of opioid abuse

• Any neuro-muscular deficit of either femoral nerves and/or quadriceps muscles

• Pregnancy

• Incarceration