Revista Cubana de Anestesiología y Reanimación (Sep 2019)
Efficacy of lateral popliteal block
Abstract
Introduction: Peripheral nerve blocks are an accepted component in medical practice from the surgical area, chronic pain control and the postoperative period. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of popliteal blockade laterally in patients undergoing surgery for foot and ankle conditions. Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out with patients operated on for foot and ankle conditions in the period from September 2015 to September 2018. The study population was made up by 431 patients, and the sample was 209. Results: More than three quarters of the patients operated on for foot and ankle conditions and to which the blockage is applied are above the fifth decade of life. Most of them correspond to the range 51-70 kg, with four to six centimeters of needle depth for the location of the nerve based on the equation of the line. It is 19 times more likely in them the absence of pain at the first six hours of the postoperative period after the blockage and more likely the success of the proposed technique with the determination of the depth in centimeters of the needle based on the equation of the line, with odds ratio of 31. Conclusions: The lateral popliteal block was evaluated as effective in the majority of patients undergoing surgery for foot and ankle conditions.