Pericapsular Nerve Block Versus Interscalene Nerve Block for Acute Pain Management in Shoulder Arthroscopy: A Randomized Controlled Study

Shoulder arthroscopy is a common procedure done is orthopedics for many surgical indications as rotator cuff tears, stiffness and instability. This procedure has a well - documented postoperative pain. To improve the outcome after surgery, effective pain control is needed.

Various methods are used for postoperative pain management. Intravenous opioid agents are among them, but they may cause undesirable side effects, such as respiratory depression, sedation, constipation, allergic reaction, nausea, and vomiting. Thus, alternative techniques are preferred.

Interscalene brachial plexus blocks (ISBPBs) are often used to provide perioperative analgesia and anesthesia for shoulder surgery. They target nerve roots C4-C6 and thereby provide regional analgesia to the shoulder and upper arm. Although ISBPBs are often performed in combination with general anesthesia (GA) to enhance postoperative analgesia, they are also sometimes used as a sole means of anesthesia.

The pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block is an ultrasound-guided approach, first described by Giron-Arango et al. for the blockade of the articular branches of the femoral, obturator and accessory obturator nerves that provide sensory innervation to the anterior hip capsule. It has been successfully used as an alternative regional anaesthesia technique for the management of acute pain after hip fracture, and for analgesia after elective hip surgery