Use of lateral femoral cutaneous nerve blocks by landmark technique is ineffective in decreasing narcotic usage after skin grafts: A retrospective case-control study.

INTRODUCTION

Cutaneous burns are commonly treated with autologous skin grafts. Following skin grafting, many patients complain of pain at the donor site. Donor sites are taken most commonly from the lateral thigh, which is innervated by the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN). Use of a LFCN blocks should decrease nociception from the donor site.

METHODS

Our group began utilizing LFCN blocks in 2019. Utilizing anatomic landmarks, LFCN blocks were performed on all patients who received autologous skin grafts to reduce perioperative pain. A retrospective cohort study was performed on all patients with 10% or less total body surface areas burns who received an autologous skin graft. A similar cohort from 2016, prior to use of any local or regional analgesia, was used as a historical control. Post-operative enteral and parenteral narcotic analgesics were collected for each post-operative day up to day 5 or discharge (whichever came first) and converted to morphine milligram equivalents (MME) to quantify analgesia after surgery.

RESULTS

Chart review identified 55 patients in the 2020 cohort. Fifty-five patients from the 2016 cohort were matched based upon size of skin graft, total body surface area (TBSA) burned, gender, and age. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of size of graft, TBSA burned, age, gender, or type of burn. When examining narcotics usage in the immediate perioperative period (days 0-2), we found no difference between the two groups for total MME (113 vs 133, p = 0.28) or IV MME (38 vs 33, p = 0.45). Similar relationships existed in the extended post-operative period (days 1-5) for total MME (149 vs. 188, t = 0.22) or IV MME (37 vs. 50, t = 0.25). Examining daily narcotic usage also yielded no statistically different values.

CONCLUSION

Our data shows that use of LFCN block by landmark technique did not reduce narcotic usage in patients that undergo skin grafting procedures. Future studies should consider ultrasound-guided LFCN blocks.