Obturator Nerve Block
What is obturator nerve block?
The obturator nerve supplies a small area of the skin on the inside of the knee and lower thigh, and the muscles of the inner thigh. Importantly enough, it also has branches to the knee and hip joint. An obturator nerve block could be useful as a diagnostic block to determine whether the nerve in question is the actual source of pain, or as a therapeutic block to treat painful conditions that respond positively to the nerve blocks.
What are the conditions treated by the Obturator Nerve Block?
An obturator nerve block is often used in the treatment of hip joint pain and in the relief of spasms of the adductor muscle (the muscles that pull the legs together) due to stroke or spinal cord injury.
How is obturator nerve block performed?
At Atlas Pain Care, Coimbatore it is performed in a clean room on a day care basis under ultrasound or X-ray guidance. 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. When the pain relief is good, but short lived, a pulsed radiofrequency lesioning of the obturator 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 complications of this procedure?
The procedure is very safe when performed under ultrasound/X-ray guidance. Temporary worsening of pain, bruising over the injection site are most common side effects. Other complications like bleeding, infection, nerve injury and perforation are extremely rare.
Please read our FAQ section to know more about the do's and don'ts prior to and after the procedure.