Impact of anaesthetic technique on LOS, pain on movement, time to first walk and oramorph consumption.
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 | |
| Anaesthetic technique | Sp FNB SNB | Sp LIA FNB | Sp LIA | Sp LIA GAB | Sp LIA GAB ACB |
| Data review period | 01/09/08–28/02/09 | 01/08/12–30/09/12 | 01/12/12–31/01/13 | 01/04/13–31/05/13 | 01/11/14–01/03/15 |
| Number of cases | 185 | 236 | 84 | 76 | 71 |
| LOS (days) Mean (min–max, SD) | 4 (2–10, 1.3) | 4.7 (2–18, 2.0) | 4.2 (2–9, 1.6) | 5.3 (2–10, 1.8) | 4.3 (2–11, 1.8) |
| LOS (days) Median | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Pain on movement (VAS 0–10)* Mean (min–max, SD) | 4.88 (0–10, 2.7) | 4.38 (0–10, 2.84) | 5.24 (0–10, 2.71) | 5.46 (0–10, 2.37) | 5.69 (0–9, 2.4) |
| Time to first walk (hours) Median (min–max) | Not available† | 31 (27–100) | 29 (26–80) | 29 (27–104) | 29 (27–102) |
| Oramorph consumption before 1300 first postoperative day Median (min–max) | Not available† | 10 (0–70) | 10 (0–130) | 20 (10–90) | 15 (0–140) |
*VAS—0 equated to ‘no pain’ and 10 equated to the worst pain a patient could imagine.
†Data were not available. Routine collection of these outcome measures was introduced after Phase 1 was completed.
ACB, adductor canal block; FNB, femoral nerve block; LIA, local incision anaesthesia; LOS, length of stay; SNB, sciatic nerve block; VAS, visual analogue scale.