Combined preoperative femoral and sciatic nerve blockade improves analgesia after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a randomized controlled clinical trial

68 patients scheduled for outpatient arthroscopic ACL reconstruction were randomized to be administered either combined single-shot femoral nerve and sciatic nerve blocks (combined ssFSNB), or single-shot femoral nerve block alone (ssFNB). The purpose of this study was to determine if the combined femoral-sciatic nerve block demonstrated significantly lower pain within the post-anaesthesia care unit. Results demonstrated significantly lower pain scores and opioid analgesia consumption within the PACU in the combined ssFSNB group compared to the ssFNB alone group, as well as significantly earlier discharge from the PACU. Outcomes on postoperative day 1 did not significantly differ between groups.