Effect of Ropivacaine During Popliteal Nerve Block in Foot and Ankle Surgery
Status:
Enrolling by invitation
Trial end date:
2021-12-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
With the increasing rise of outpatient surgery in orthopaedic procedures, the management of
immediate postoperative pain has been a major topic investigated, with the use of a
peripheral nerve block in combination with general anesthesia being a commonly accepted
method. Foot and ankle procedures, which offer the choice of several anesthetic techniques,
have increasingly been performed with this method predominantly through the combination of
general anesthesia with a single-injection popliteal nerve block to reduce the substantial
acute postoperative pain that often requires large opioid intake within the post-anesthesia
care unit (PACU). However, as a single-injection peripheral nerve block resolves off shortly
following surgery, major postoperative pain, termed "rebound pain", can also arise, and has
the potential to be even greater than that of patients who do not receive any peripheral
nerve block with general anesthesia.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of ropivacaine concentration (0.5%
versus 0.25%) of the initial bolus in continuous popliteal nerve blocks toward the rebound
pain phenomena, or the quantifiable difference in pain experienced during the initial time
after block resolution, in foot and ankle surgeries.