THE USE OF PARAVERTEBRAL BLOCKADE FOR ANALGESIA AFTER ANTERIOR-APPROACH TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY.

Background: Anterior approaches for total hip arthroplasty (ATHA) are becoming increasingly popular. We postulated that the use of PVB of the T12, L1, and L2 roots would provide adequate analgesia for ATHA while allowing motor sparing.

Methods: The medical records of 20 patients undergoing primary ATHA were reviewed. T12, L1 and L2 paravertebral blockade was accomplished with 3-4 ml of 1% ropivacaine with epinephrine 1:200,000 and 0.5 mg/ml of preservative-free dexamethasone per level. Primary outcomes were mean opioid consumption in intravenous morphine equivalents and worst recorded visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores during postoperative days 0 to 2 (POD 0 to 2).

Results: Mean opioid consumption was 8.4 mg on POD0, 16.6 mg on POD1, and 9.8 mg on POD2. Median worst VAS scores were 2 for all time intervals except POD 0, which had a median value of 0. All patients had full hip motor strength the evening of POD0.19 patients were able to ambulate the afternoon of POD1.

Conclusion: T12-L2 PVB, when utilized as part of a multimodal analgesic regimen, results in moderate opioid consumption, low VAS scores, preservation of hip motor function, and may be an effective regional anesthesia technique for ATHA.