RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Fascia lliaca Block for Analgesia After Hip Arthroplasty: A Randomized Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial JF Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine JO Reg Anesth Pain Med FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP 201 OP 205 DO 10.1097/AAP.0b013e31828a3c7c VO 38 IS 3 A1 Ali N. Shariat A1 Admir Hadzic A1 Daquan Xu A1 Uma Shastri A1 Kwesi Kwofie A1 Kishor Gandhi A1 Colleen Mitgang McCally A1 Kimberly Gratenstein A1 Catherine Vandepitte A1 Jeff Gadsden A1 Douglas Unis YR 2013 UL http://rapm.bmj.com/content/38/3/201.abstract AB Background and Objectives Fascia iliaca block (FIB) is often used to treat pain after total hip arthroplasty (THA), despite a lack of randomized trials to evaluate its efficacy for this indication. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic benefit of FIB after THA. Our primary hypothesis was administration of FIB decreases the intensity of postoperative pain (numeric rating scale [NRS-11] score) compared with sham block (SB) in patients after THA.Methods After institutional review board approval and informed consent, 32 eligible patients having THA were recruited. In the postoperative care unit, although all patients received intravenous morphine sulfate patient-controlled analgesia, patients reporting pain of 3 or greater on the NRS-11 scale were randomized to receive ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca (30 mL 0.5% ropivacaine) or SB (30 mL 0.9% NaCl) using identical technique, below fascia iliaca. The primary outcome was pain intensity (NRS-11) after FIB.Results Thirty-two patients (16 in each group) completed the study; all patients received an FIB. There was no difference in pain intensity (NRS-11 = 5.0 ± 0.6 vs 4.7 ± 0.6, respectively) after FIB versus SB or in opioid consumption (8.97 ± 1.6 vs 5.7 ± 1.6 mg morphine, respectively) between the groups at 1 hour. The morphine consumption after 24 hours was similar in both groups (49.0 ± 29.9 vs 50.4 ± 34.5 mg, P = 0.88, respectively).Conclusions The evidence in these data suggests that the difference in average pain intensity after FIB versus SB was not significant (95% confidence interval, −2.2–1.4 NRS units).