Continuous Femoral Nerve Blocks: Effects of Catheter Tip Location Relative to the Femoral Nerve on Sensory and Motor Function
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 19
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Quadriceps femoris muscle strength
Study Overview
Brief Summary
To determine if the way local anesthetic, or numbing medication, is delivered through a tiny tube next to the nerves that go to the thigh affects the strength and sensation in the thigh.
Detailed Description
Specific Aim: Research study to test the hypothesis that differing the location of the perineural catheter tip during a continuous femoral nerve block (anterior vs. posterior) impacts quadriceps muscle strength. These results will help define the optimal perineural catheter tip location relative to the femoral nerve used for continuous peripheral nerve blocks and help guide both clinical care and future research in this clinically-relevant area.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •18 years of age or over
- •Willing to have bilateral femoral perineural catheters placed with a subsequent ropivacaine infusion and motor/sensory testing for 6 hours, requiring an overnight stay in the UCSD GCRC/CTRI to allow dissipation of local anesthetic infusion effects by the following morning
Exclusion Criteria
- •current daily analgesic use
- •opioid use within the previous 4 weeks
- •any neuro-muscular deficit of either femoral nerves and/or quadriceps muscles
- •body mass index > 30 kg/m2
- •pregnancy
- •incarceration
Arms & Interventions
Catheter Anterior to Femoral Nerve
Each subject will have one lower extremity (Right or Left) randomized to receive a perinural catheter, placed anterior to the femoral nerve, with a continuous infusion of local anesthetic and then the outcomes will be measured.
Intervention: Catheter Anterior to the Femoral Nerve (Procedure)
Catheter Posterior to Femoral Nerve
Each subject will have the opposite lower extremity (Right or Left) randomized to receive a perinural catheter, placed posterior to the femoral nerve, with a continuous infusion of local anesthetic and then the outcomes will be measured.
Intervention: Catheter Posterior to the Femoral Nerve (Procedure)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Quadriceps femoris muscle strength
Time Frame: percentage of baseline muscle strength six hours after infusion initiation
The primary end point will be the quadriceps femoris maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) expressed as a percentage of the pre-ropivacaine MVIC: post / pre x 100; with the two sides of each subject compared with each other
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported