Intermittent versus continuous sciatic block combined with femoral block for patients undergoing knee arthroplasty. A randomized controlled trial

140 patients scheduled for elective total knee arthroplasty were randomized to receive, in addition to a continuous femoral nerve block, either a continuous sciatic nerve block or intermittent sciatic nerve block postoperatively. The purpose of this study was to compare analgesic efficacy between the two regimens over the first 3 days postoperatively. The results demonstrated no significant differences between groups in pain scores at rest or on movement, or opioid analgesic requirement and mean opioid consumption.