A study conducted in the United Kingdom and published online in The Bone & Joint Journal suggests that periarticular infiltration may be a viable and safe alternative to femoral nerve block for the early post-operative relief of pain following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). 

The authors conducted a pragmatic, single patient-blinded, randomized controlled trial of 230 TKA patients treated with either periarticular infiltration or femoral nerve block. They found no significant difference across cohorts in visual analogue score for pain on post-operative day 1. Compared with patients in the femoral nerve block group, patients in the periarticular group used less morphine in the first post-operative day. The authors note that, at 6-week follow-up, the femoral nerve block group had reported 39 adverse events (27 serious) in 31 patients, while the periarticular group reported 51 adverse events (38 serious) in 42 patients. However, none of the adverse events were directly attributed to either of the interventions under investigation. Learn more...