Ankle nerve block-perioperative pain relief in surgery of the forefoot

BackgroundSurgery of the foot induces intense pain in the postoperative periode. Peripheral nerve blocks provide reliable anesthesia for all foot surgery and is associated with an ability to ambulate immediately following surgery. The actual study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of nerve blocks in the postoperative phases of surgery of the forefoot.MethodOne hundred and sixteen patients were in this prospective study randomized to two groups; group 1 recieved an ankle nerve block with local anesthetics prior to surgery, group 2 recieved spinal or general anesthesia without a nerve block. Pain was evaluated with repeated VAS-scales, total consumption of analgesics were recorded. A record was kept on the requirement of the intraoperative intravenous anesthetic agents. Total hospital care time was recorded.ResultsThe ankle nerve block lowered the requirement of intraoperative intravenous anesthetic agents. The use of oral anelgesics was higher in the control group. The hospital care time was lower in the ankle nerve block group.ConclusionThe ankle nerve blocks reduces the consumption of analgesics. Good control of postoperative pain allows for early recovery of these patients. Use of nerve blocks should be encouraged when possible in surgery of the foot.