DG Journal Club
AUTHORS: Alexa R Deemer, David L Furgiuele, Abhishek Ganta, Philipp Leucht
J Orthop Trauma. 2022 Oct 17
OBJECTIVES To examine the efficacy of regional anesthesia with sedation only for a variety of hip fractures using the newly described lateral femoral cutaneous with over the hip Block (LOH Block). DESIGN Retrospective. SETTING Level-I Trauma CenterPatients/Participants: 40 patients who presented between 11/2021 and 02/2022 for fixation of OTA/AO 31.A1-3 and 31.B1-3 fractures.
Matched cohorts of 40 patients who received general anesthesia and 40 patients who received spinal anesthesia for hip fracture fixation were also used.
INTERVENTION Operative fixation under LOH block and sedation only. The LOH block is a regional hip analgesic that targets the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, articular branches of femoral nerve (FN) and accessory obturator nerve (AON).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS Demographics, intraoperative characteristics, anesthesia-related complications, hospital quality metrics, and short-term mortality and reoperation rates. RESULTS A total of 120 patients (40 each: general, spinal, LOH block) were compared. The cohorts were similar in age, race, BMI, gender, CCI, trauma risk score, ambulatory status at baseline, fracture type, and surgical fixation technique performed. Physiologic parameters during surgery were more stable in the LOH block group (p<0.05). Total OR time and anesthesia time were shortest for the LOH block cohort (p<0.05). Patients in the LOH block cohort also had lower post-operative pain scores (p<0.05). Length of hospital stay was shortest for patients in the LOH block cohort (p<0.05), and at time of discharge, patients in the LOH block cohort ambulated the furthest (p<0.05). No differences were found in regards to anesthesia-related complications, palliative care consults, major and minor hospital complications, discharge disposition, reoperation and readmission rates, and mortality rates.
CONCLUSIONS The LOH block is safe and effective anesthesia for the treatment of all types of hip fractures in the elderly requiring surgery. In addition, this block may decrease post-operative pain and length of hospital stay, and also allow for greater ambulation in the early post-operative period for hip fracture patients.
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