Readmission and Complications for Catheter and Injection Femoral Nerve Block Administration After Total Knee Arthroplasty in the Medicare Population

There is general agreement that femoral nerve blocks (FNB) provide adequate immediate postoperative analgesia after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), although the effect of this technique on hospital readmission and other complications has not been quantified in a large sample. The Medicare 5% sample was used to identify TKA patients who were grouped according to postoperative FNB administration: FNB via injection; FNB via pain pump; and no FNB. Multivariate Cox regressions were used to evaluate risk factors for the postoperative outcomes. Both FNB groups were associated with a lower risk of readmission (30, 90 and 365 days, P < 0.001). Future clinical studies may help elucidate whether the lower hospital readmissions may be associated with more effective pain control with the use of FNB.