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Background and Aims Pain is defined as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience’. Nowadays regional neuraxial blockade is commonly used, especially in orthopaedic surgery. The aim of our study was to evaluate patient experience post regional anaesthetic blockade in elective orthopaedic day case surgery.

Methods Data was collected over a five-day period. Data collected included, grade of block performer, the block performed, technique used (landmark/ultrasound guided), injectate used, if the block was the sole anaesthetic technique or with a general anaesthetic, immediate post operative verbal pain score (0-10) and post operative analgesics required. Subsequently, patients were followed up 24 hours post-op to assess pain scores, time till recovery of motor function and overall patient satisfaction score (1-10). The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee.

Results Over the five-day period data from 15 upper-limb blocks were recorded. 10 out the 15 blocks were axillary, four interscalene and one supraclavicular. Levobupivacaine 0.5% was the most common injectate used. Nine patients had a pain score of 0 (average 1.3). At the 24-hour follow-up pain scores varied quite significantly (average 3.25). Importantly, most patients felt they received poor information on what to expect post block. This led to delays in taking prescribed analgesia, anxiety regarding motor weakness and uncertainty when and where to seek help. However, overall satisfaction scores ranged between 7-10.

Conclusions Poor patient education post peripheral block negatively impacted patients pain experience and may have led to worse pain scores. To tackle this specific post regional anaesthesia leaflets were introduced and given to all patients post-operatively.