Femoral Nerve Block
What is femoral nerve block?
The femoral nerve is the largest nerve that originates from the spine in the lower back. It supplies the muscles that move the legs, the knee joint, and the skin on the front and inner sides of the thigh. A femoral nerve block is an effective way to moderate pain arising from knee and hip joints especially after joint replacement surgery. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool in patients who present with undiagnosed pain in the front of thigh. At Atlas Pain Care, Coimbatore, the femoral nerve block is done on a day care basis under ultrasound guidance. The procedure takes about 15 minutes.
What should I expect during the procedure?
At Atlas Pain Care, Coimbatore, you will be asked to change into a hospital gown and taken to our procedure room. Your groin area will be cleaned with antiseptic solution and draped. The injection site is then identified using ultrasound or X-rays and a small amount of local anaesthetic is injected into the skin overlying the injection site to numb the skin. The medications are then given through a longer needle that has been positioned in the exact spot using ultrasound or X-ray guidance. You may feel some discomfort during the injection, but this normally settles quickly..
The whole procedure will take around about 15 minutes, and post procedure you will be observed in recovery room for 30 minutes and then discharged home. You may need to rest at home for the remainder of the day. But you should be able to resume your normal activities the next day. You might feel some numbness/weakness in your knee joint. But that should go away within a few hours.
When the pain relief is good, but short lived, a pulsed radiofrequency lesioning of the femoral nerve could provide long-term benefit. In this procedure, an electric needle is guided under image-control to be positioned closer to the nerves, which are then gently stunned with the pulsed radiofrequency current.
What are the risks of the procedure?
As with most procedures, there is a remote risk of bleeding, infection, nerve injury or allergic reaction to the medications used. There is also a risk of irritating the nerve and making the pain worse in the short-term, as well as a risk of the procedure failing to relieve your pain.
Please read our FAQ section to know more about the do's and don'ts prior to and after the procedure.