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The Efficacy of Peripheral Nerve Blocks With Intrathecal Morphine in Improving Analgesia After Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

Do Peripheral Nerve Blocks When Used as Part of a Multimodal Regimen Inclusive on Intrathecal Morphine Improve Analgesia After Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02135120
Enrollment
42
Registered
2014-05-09
Start date
2013-03-31
Completion date
2017-02-28
Last updated
2019-01-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Anesthesia, Total Knee Arthroplasty

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether intrathecal morphine (ITM) alone or its combination with peripheral nerve blocks (PNB) provides better analgesia for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Detailed description

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery is associated with severe pain. The success of knee rehabilitation following surgery depends largely on adequate pain control that permits early physical therapy. Postoperative modern analgesic recommendations specific to TKA propose either spinal block with intrathecal morphine (ITM) or a combination of general anesthesia with single shot femoral nerve block (SFNB). Femoral nerve block (FNB) too has proven analgesic advantages in TKA surgery. However, we do not know if the combination of the two analgesic techniques, ITM and peripheral nerve blocks (PNB), provides superior analgesia to ITM alone. Thus, this study aims to determine whether ITM alone or its combination with PNB provides better analgesia for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Eligible patients undergoing unilateral TKA under spinal anesthesia consenting to a multimodal analgesic regimen inclusive of ITM, FNB, and SNB will be recruited. All patients will receive spinal with intrathecal morphine. Patients will be randomly assigned using a computer generated table of random numbers to receive either spinal with intrathecal morphine (morphine group), a combination of intrathecal morphine and femoral nerve block (morphine-femoral group), or a combination of intrathecal morphine and femoral nerve block as well as sciatic nerve block (morphine-femoral-sciatic group).

Interventions

DRUGA combination of combined spinal-epidural (with intrathecal morphine) and femoral nerve block as well as sciatic nerve block
DRUGCombined spinal epidural anesthesia technique with intrathecal morphine
DRUGA combination of combined spinal-epidural (with intrathecal morphine) and femoral nerve block

Sponsors

American University of Beirut Medical Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* ASA I-III patients undergoing unilateral TKA under spinal anesthesia and nerve blocks * Ages 18-80 * BMI ≤ 38 kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

* BMI \> 38 kg/m2 * chronic pain disorders * Significant pre-existing neurological deficits or peripheral neuropathy affecting the lower extremity * abuse of drugs or alcohol * Contraindication to a component of multi-modal analgesia * Contraindication to spinal anesthesia or failure to institute spinal anesthesia after performing femoral and sciatic blocks * Bilateral TKA surgeries * History of significant psychiatric conditions that may affect patient assessment * Pregnancy * Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. * Previous adverse reactions resulting from intrathecal opioids (respiratory depression, urinary retention, severe pruritis, severe nausea or vomiting, severe sedation) * inability to provide informed consent.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Postoperative parenteral morphine consumptionfirst 24 hours post-operation

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Total IV PCA consumption upon discontinuation of PCA24-48 hours after surgery
Visual analogue pain scores (VAS) in anterior and posterior kneewithin 24-48 hours after surgery
Severity of pain in anterior and posterior knee1 week postoperatively
Time to first IV PCA boluswithin first 12 hours
Patient satisfaction with pain control24-48 hours after surgery
complications1 month after surgeryPatients will be contacted by a member of the research team (by phone) to check for complications including: numbness in the anterior thigh, numbness in the foot, pain and/or bruising around the site where the anesthetic were injected, weakness in thigh muscles, weakness in foot muscles
Side effectswithin 24 hours after surgeryPatients will be closely monitored during their hospital stay. Patients will be assessed in their rooms twice daily by a pain nurse, and additionally as required, to report the occurrence of side effects including: block complications, incidence of falls, numbness over femoral distribution, nausea & vomiting, pruritus, occurrence of urinary retention, occurrence of respiratory depression.

Countries

Lebanon

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026