Psoas Sciatic Blockade for Knee Arthroplasty

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of continuous combined psoas sciatic block as a sole anaesthetic technique with conventional combined spinal epidural anesthesia for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Subjects and Method: Eighty patients ASA (American society of anaesthesiologists classification) I to III with age range from 50 to 65 years old and scheduled for total knee replacement were included in the study. Subjects were divided into two groups; the first group (Pso/sci) received ultrasound guided with the use of nerve locator continuous psoas sciatic block and the second group (CSE) received combined spinal epidural anesthesia. Onset of sensory and motor block time, hemodynamic changes, contra-lateral spread, first time need for analgesia, incidence of complications, and patient and surgeon satisfactions were recorded.