A Comparison of Ultrasound‐guided Three‐in‐one Femoral Nerve Block Versus Parenteral Opioids Alone for Analgesia in Emergency Department Patients With Hip Fractures: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block as an adjunct to SC resulted in 1) significantly reduced pain intensity over 4 hours, 2) decreased amount of rescue analgesia, and 3) no appreciable difference in adverse events when compared with SC alone. Furthermore, standard pain management with parenteral opioids alone provided ineffective pain control in our study cohort of patients with severe pain from their hip fractures. Regional anesthesia has a role in the ED, and US-guided femoral nerve blocks for pain management in older adults with hip fractures should routinely be considered, particularly in cases of refractory or severe pain.