Peridural Anesthesia or Ultrasound-Guided Continuous 3-in-1 Block: Which Is Indicated for Analgesia in Very Elderly Patients With Hip Fracture in the Emergency Department?

PURPOSE

The aim of our study was to investigate the clinical relevance of preoperative acute pain management and cardiovascular stability by ultrasound-guided continuous 3-in-1 nerve block in very elderly patients with hip fracture when compared to epidural anesthesia (PDA).

METHODS

To study the analgesic effect, we enrolled 37 very elderly patients with hip fractures, of whom 3 patients with dementia had to be excluded. Thus, 34 patients were randomized to 1 of the 3 groups: group A (ultrasound-guided continuous 3-in-1 block, bupivacaine; n = 10, dropout rate: 0), group B (PDA, bupivacaine; n = 14, dropout rate: 8), and group C (systemic pain therapy, piritramide/paracetamol; n = 10, dropout rate: 0). Pain intensity was assessed preoperatively and up to 24 hours postoperatively using a visual analog scale, verbal rating scale, analgesic consumption, scale of well-being, and cardiocirculatory parameters (eg, serum troponin T).

RESULTS

Our data show that in the preoperative period both regional anesthesia (RA) procedures (analgesia responders after 1 hour: 86.7% and 100%; P = .001) were superior to systemic analgesia (analgesia responders: 46.7%), and the rescue medication requirement in the 2 RA groups was significantly lower (P = .02). Serum troponin T level increased only in the systemic analgesia group (P = .04). In the emergency department, the disadvantage of PDA in geriatric patients with hip fracture was the fact that procedures were more complex, resulting in a high dropout rate (57.1%). The use of PDA has to be critically discussed for ethical concerns.

CONCLUSION

In the specific situation of acute hospital admission, the ultrasound-guided continuous 3-in-1 block appears to be indicated as a stress-free means of providing adequate preoperative pain relief in very elderly patients with hip fracture. However, these findings should be corroborated by studies involving larger numbers of patients.