Comparison of Analgesia Produced by preoperative Ultrasound-guided Femoral Nerve Blocks and Postoperative Intravenous Administration of Opioids in Patients Undergoing Hip Replacement Surgery

Background: Perioperative pain management can improve surgery results and patient outcomes. Moreover, multimodal methods for pain control have been advised so this study was conducted to assess the beneficial impact of preoperative ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blocks in hip replacement surgery. Methods: This study is a double-blinded clinical trial including 60 individuals who were candidates for joint replacement surgery. The intervention group (n = 30) received a femoral nerve block prior to general anesthesia. Results: After surgery, patients received morphine, Apotel, and morphine + Apotel, all of which were administered at lower doses in the intervention group (femoral nerve block) than in the control group. Pain intensity in first hour (P= 0.01), 4 hours (P= 0.003), 8 hours (P= 0.01), 12 hours (P= 0.001), and 24 hours (P= 0.01) after surgery and average pain 4 hours (P= 0.01), 8 hours (P = 0.01), 12 hours (P = 0.02), and 24 hours (P= 0.01) after surgery was significantly less in the intervention group (femoral nerve block) than in the control group. Conclusion: The findings of our investigation demonstrated the efficacy of ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blocks in the improvement of pain control following hip replacement surgery.