Evaluation of the effect of pericapsular nerve group block on postoperative analgesia in hip surgery

Objective: With the increasing number of patients undergoing hip surgery, analgesia planning for patients in the postoperative period also becomes important. Pain following hip surgery is categorized as acute and severe and its effective treatment is of great importance. In our study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Pericapsular Nerve Group block (PENG) in postoperative analgesia, the amount of opioid used, and the presence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in hip surgeries within the scope of multimodal analgesia. Materials and Methods: Our study is a prospective study and includes a total of 112 patients who were planned to undergo hip surgery under general anesthesia in elective conditions at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Hospital between 15.12.2021-15.08.2022. The patients were randomly divided into two groups, with the first group receiving the PENG block. The patients in the second group constituted the control group. Intraoperative hemodynamic data, discharge-hospital stay duration, presence of complications, and VAS values of the patients were recorded. Total tramadol dose, additional analgesic need and first analgesic hour were evaluated. Results: Resting and dynamic visual pain scores at all postoperative times, excluding before the block, were significantly lower in the group where the PENG block was applied compared to the group where it was not. The total doses of tramadol administered and the rate of additional analgesic administration in the group where the PENG block was applied were significantly lower than in patients in the group where the block was not applied. The need for additional analgesic occurred earlier and the rates of administering rescue analgesia were significantly higher in the group where the Pericapsular Nerve Group block was not applied compared to the group where it was. Conclusion: We believe that the application of the PENG block in hip surgeries will reduce patient pain scores, allowing them to experience less pain with fewer opioids, and protect them from side effects caused by opioids. Keywords: Hip surgery, Opioid, PENG block, Postoperative analgesia