Continuous femoral nerve blocks: decreasing local anesthetic concentration to minimize quadriceps femoris weakness.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whether decreasing the local anesthetic concentration during a continuous femoral nerve block results in less quadriceps weakness remains unknown.

Methods

Preoperatively, bilateral femoral perineural catheters were inserted in subjects undergoing bilateral knee arthroplasty (n = 36) at a single clinical center. Postoperatively, right-sided catheters were randomly assigned to receive perineural ropivacaine of either 0.1% (basal 12 ml/h; bolus 4 ml) or 0.4% (basal 3 ml/h; bolus 1 ml), with the left catheter receiving the alternative concentration/rate in an observer- and subject-masked fashion. The primary endpoint was the maximum voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps femoris muscles the morning of postoperative day 2. Equivalence of treatments would be

SUBMITTER: Bauer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3288409 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature