Description

Knee arthroplasty surgery numbers are increasing depending on joint deformities and cartilage degenerations. Severe postoperative pain may occur in these patients due to surgery and the placed prosthesis. Postoperative analgesia is important for early mobilization. So that, early movement of the joint is ensured and complications such as thromboembolism and infection are prevented. Various methods can be used for postoperative analgesia. One of these methods is epidural analgesia. However, it may not be applied due to the patient's refusal or the technical difficulties in the application. Another option is opioid agents. However; opioids have side effects such as nausea, vomiting, sedation, respiratory depression. Femoral nerve blockade can be done, but it is not preferred because it may prevent mobilization as a result of motor blockade.

Current regional anesthesia techniques used in knee surgery include selective blockade of the saphenous nerve in the adductor canal (adductor canal block-ACB) and pericapsular nerve group block (PENG). Adductor canal block; affects the vastus medialis branch of the saphenous nerve, one of the two largest sensory nerves from the femoral nerve to the knee, and the articular branches of the obturator nerve. Since the block is made in the distal thigh, the innervation of the quadriceps muscle is not affected, and therefore the motor power of this muscle is largely preserved. Another lower extremity peripheral regional blockade technique that is gaining importance today is PENG block. PENG, which is a musculofacial plane block made between the tendon of the psoas muscle and the ramus pubis, provides block of the femoral nerve, obturator nerve and accessory obturator nerve. In both block methods, pure sensory blockade provides analgesia without quadriceps muscle weakness, and this provides a significant advantage in terms of early mobilization.

The aim of this study is to compare these two analgesic methods in terms of effectiveness for postoperative analgesia management after knee arthroplasty. The primary outcome is to compare global recovery scores (QoR-15 scale), the secondary outcome is to compare postoperative pain scores (NRS), to evaluate postoperative opioid consumption, postoperative rescue analgesic (opioid) use, presence of motor blockade, postoperative first mobilization time, and side effects (allergic reaction, nausea, vomiting) associated with opioid use in this study.