Fascia Iliaca compartment block with 0.25% levo- bupivacaine versus intravenous fentanyl in patients with fracture of femur

Introduction: Femoral neck fractures are often encountered in the elderly who may have many concurrent medical conditions. These patients are treated by surgery, more commonly under spinal anaesthesia. But the patients experience a significant amount of pain during positioning for administration of spinal anaesthesia. To alleviate this pain during positioning, multiple intravenous analgesics have been used. Recently regional blocks have gained popularity for the same purpose. Fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) is one such safe alternative. Method: 60 patients were divided into 2 groups of 30 each by computer- generated number sequence. Group 1: Received the Fascia Iliaca compartment block with 20 ml of 0.25% levo-bupivacaine 15 minutes before the subarachnoid block. Group 2: Received Intravenous fentanyl at 1 mcg/ kg single dose 15 minutes before the subarachnoid block. Result: The mean VAS of group 1 was lower than that of group 2. The difference in VAS after the block and after the drug was statistically significant. Conclusion: Fascia iliaca compartment block is better than fentanyl for providing analgesia during patient positioning in patients of fracture femur.