Ultrasound Guided Pain Control Versus Standard Treatment in Emergency Department HIP Fracture Patients

Summary

Hip Fracture (HFx) is a painful injury that is often treated in the Emergency Department (ED) with intravenous opiates. However, this class of medications may cause deleterious side effects. An alternative analgesic approach involves regional anesthesia. The investigators attempted to determine (1) whether ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks (UPNBs) could be safely performed in an ED setting, (2) whether UPNBs would be more effective than standard treatment in controlling pain from HFx and (3) which of two UPNBs was superior for pain relief. A convenience sample of patients with an isolated HFx and a pain score \> 5/10 were enrolled and randomized to one of three arms: (1) Ultrasound guided 3-in-1 femoral nerve block (UFNB), (2) Ultrasound guided fascia iliaca compartment block (UFIB), or (3) IVMS. Patients indicated their pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (extreme pain).

Timeline

Start

2008-10

Primary completion

2010-08

Completion

2010-08

Publications

• Background Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease control, 2004
• Background Hwang U, Richardson LD, Sonuyi TO, Morrison RS. The effect of emergency department crowding on the management of pain in older adults with hip fracture. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006 Feb;54(2):270-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00587.x.
• Background Fletcher AK, Rigby AS, Heyes FL. Three-in-one femoral nerve block as analgesia for fractured neck of femur in the emergency department: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2003 Feb;41(2):227-33. doi: 10.1067/mem.2003.51.
• Background Marhofer P, Schrogendorfer K, Wallner T, Koinig H, Mayer N, Kapral S. Ultrasonographic guidance reduces the amount of local anesthetic for 3-in-1 blocks. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 1998 Nov-Dec;23(6):584-8. doi: 10.1016/s1098-7339(98)90086-4.
• Background Casati A, Baciarello M, Di Cianni S, Danelli G, De Marco G, Leone S, Rossi M, Fanelli G. Effects of ultrasound guidance on the minimum effective anaesthetic volume required to block the femoral nerve. Br J Anaesth. 2007 Jun;98(6):823-7. doi: 10.1093/bja/aem100. Epub 2007 May 3.
• Background Marhofer P, Schrogendorfer K, Koinig H, Kapral S, Weinstabl C, Mayer N. Ultrasonographic guidance improves sensory block and onset time of three-in-one blocks. Anesth Analg. 1997 Oct;85(4):854-7. doi: 10.1097/00000539-199710000-00026.
• Background Beaudoin FL, Nagdev A, Merchant RC, Becker BM. Ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blocks in elderly patients with hip fractures. Am J Emerg Med. 2010 Jan;28(1):76-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2008.09.015.
• Background Reid N, Stella J, Ryan M, Ragg M. Use of ultrasound to facilitate accurate femoral nerve block in the emergency department. Emerg Med Australas. 2009 Apr;21(2):124-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2009.01163.x.
• Background Foss NB, Kristensen BB, Bundgaard M, Bak M, Heiring C, Virkelyst C, Hougaard S, Kehlet H. Fascia iliaca compartment blockade for acute pain control in hip fracture patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Anesthesiology. 2007 Apr;106(4):773-8. doi: 10.1097/01.anes.0000264764.56544.d2.
• Background Wathen JE, Gao D, Merritt G, Georgopoulos G, Battan FK. A randomized controlled trial comparing a fascia iliaca compartment nerve block to a traditional systemic analgesic for femur fractures in a pediatric emergency department. Ann Emerg Med. 2007 Aug;50(2):162-71, 171.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.09.006. Epub 2007 Jan 8.
• Background Dalens B, Vanneuville G, Tanguy A. Comparison of the fascia iliaca compartment block with the 3-in-1 block in children. Anesth Analg. 1989 Dec;69(6):705-13.
• Background Dolan J, Williams A, Murney E, Smith M, Kenny GN. Ultrasound guided fascia iliaca block: a comparison with the loss of resistance technique. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2008 Nov-Dec;33(6):526-31. doi: 10.1016/j.rapm.2008.03.008.
• Results Haines L, Dickman E, Ayvazyan S, Pearl M, Wu S, Rosenblum D, Likourezos A. Ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment block for hip fractures in the emergency department. J Emerg Med. 2012 Oct;43(4):692-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2012.01.050. Epub 2012 Apr 9.
• Guay J, Kopp S. Peripheral nerve blocks for hip fractures in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Nov 25;11(11):CD001159. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001159.pub3.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.