[Three blocks, including Pericapsular Nerve Block (PENG) for a femoral shaft fracture pain].

Dear Editor,

Most of the femoral fracture patients suffer from extreme pain in preoperative period and are exposed to high doses of opiates which have severe adverse effects. Femoral shaft fractures count 2%–6% of all femoral fractures. PENG (Pericapsular Nerve Group) block is a new published block technique (2018) and mostly used for hip surgery in the literature. The main neural targets of this block are the articular branches of obturator, accessory obturator and femoral nerves. Herein, we report the successful use of three blocks in the preoperative period for a femoral shaft fracture pain in a post-polio sequelae patient.

A 51 year-old patient (182 cm, 80 kg) with a fracture extending towards to the head of the femur (Fig. 1) had a complain of severe pain (NRS: 10/10). Therefore, a PENG block was performed using 20 mL of 0.25% bupivakain. Local anesthetic was injected into the musculofascial plane between the psoas muscle anteriorly and the pubic ramus posteriorly (Fig. 2). The pain score was decreased to NRS: 7/10 approximately 3 min later than the block performed. Later, fascia iliaca compartment block was performed using 30 mL of 0.25% bupivakain. The pain score was NRS: 5/10 in 5th min after the second block. And the last performed block was femoral block using 20 mL of 0.25% bupivakain. The pain score was assessed only 4/10 just after the third block and in operation theatre 1 h later. We preferred general anesthesia for the patient because the polio is a relative contraindication for spinal anesthesia. Patient had general anesthesia with 100 mg tramadol for postoperative analgesia at the end of the operation. In the 24 h follow-up, there was no pain score more than 3 while sitting and lying position. The patient received only 1 g paracetamol two times and did not need any opiate use.

Figure 1

The fracture extending towards to the head of the femur.

Figure 2

Local anesthetic spread on ultrasound.

In the literature, PENG block is mostly recommended for hip fracture pain, however it is also a very effective method for the femoral shaft fracture pain control.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.