Retrospective Evaluation of Ultrasound-guided Deep Iliacus Plane Block / Meta-PENG: Another Novel Fascial Plane Block

Many regional anesthesia techniques are used in hip surgeries for various goals, such as optimizing neuraxial positioning and relieving pain in the perioperative period, and have been the subject of clinical researches in the last few decades.

The lumbar plexus is important in administering anesthesia and analgesia during hip and knee surgeries. Comprising the femoral nerve (FN), lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN), and obturator nerve, it collaborates with the sacral plexus to ensure comprehensive innervation of the lower limb.

We hypothesized that by administering a relatively high volume of local anesthetic deep to the iliacus muscle at the level of the anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS), we could effectively block the lumbar plexus components and capture the hip capsule's articular branches. We can ensure both the blockade of the pericapsular nerve group supplying the hip capsule and the cutaneous blockade. Here, we aimed to present our cadaveric evaluation and retrospective evaluation of patients underwent meta-PENG block, which we consider the proof-of-concept for our hypothesis of the technique we named 'deep iliacus plane block (DIPB)'.