Fascia iliaca compartment block using ropivacaine 0.5% for postoperative analgesia in lowerlimb orthopaedic surgeries

Background and Purpose: Conventional treatment of postoperative pain with routine analgesics during orthopaedic surgery leads to undesirable side effects, especially in the elderly. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of compartment block of the fascia iliaca in postoperative analgesia with ropivacaine. Methods: We performed compartment block of the fascia iliaca with 30 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine in 20 patients undergoing lower limb orthopaedic surgery under general anaesthesia. Results: Verbal pain score (VPS) decreased significantly 1 hour after blockade, and the mean duration of analgesia was 4.85±2.86 hours. Conclusion: Compartmental block of the iliac fascia is a very useful method for postoperative analgesia in orthopaedic procedures of the lower limbs.