A femoral nerve block is a nerve block that uses local anesthetic to achieve analgesia in the leg. The block works by affecting the femoral nerve.

Femoral nerve block
Ultrasound guided femoral nerve block
Other namesFemoral block

A femoral nerve block (FNB) results in anesthesia of the skin and muscles of the anterior thigh and most of the femur and knee joint, as well as the skin on the medial aspect of the leg below the knee joint.[1]

The block can be performed using anatomical landmarks, ultrasound or a nerve stimulator.[2]

For hip surgery, a femoral nerve block and fascia iliac block (FIB) are alternative methods for providing analgesic relief. A meta-analysis concluded that compared to FIB, the FNB decreased visual analog scale at 24 hrs and the incidence of nausea, vomiting and oversedation.[3]

For knee surgery, a femoral nerve block may lead to delayed postoperative mobilization of the patient and greater risk of falls as it causes motor blockade of the quadriceps muscles.[4] Due to the sparing of the thigh muscles the adductor canal block is becoming a preferred choice for providing post-operative analgesia for knee surgery.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vloka JD, Hadzic A, Gautier P (13 July 2018). "Femoral Nerve Block - Landmarks and Nerve Stimulator Technique". The New York School of Regional Anesthesia.
  2. ^ Forouzan A, Masoumi K, Motamed H, Gousheh MR, Rohani A (2017). "Nerve Stimulator versus Ultrasound-Guided Femoral Nerve Block; a Randomized Clinical Trial". Emergency (Tehran, Iran). 5 (1): e54. PMC 5325926. PMID 28286861.
  3. ^ Li XD, Han C, Yu WL (2022). "Is Femoral Nerve Block Superior to Fascia Iliac Block in Hip Surgery? Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". BioMed Research International. 2022: 4840501. doi:10.1155/2022/4840501. PMC 9135520. PMID 35647188.
  4. ^ Min H, Ouyang Y, Chen G (August 2020). "Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with the use of adductor canal block can achieve similar pain control as femoral nerve block". Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. 28 (8): 2675–2686. doi:10.1007/s00167-020-05933-6. PMID 32166390. S2CID 212681626.
  5. ^ ElShawady KB, Zaki GF, Abdelhamid HS, Elfawy DM, Elfar MM (December 2022). "Adductor canal block vs. femoral nerve block in patients undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using levobupivacaine: a comparative randomized controlled double-blind study". Ain-Shams Journal of Anaesthesiology. 14 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1186/s42077-022-00272-9. S2CID 252760404.