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MID-AMERICA ORTHOPAEDIC ASSOCIATION 29 th Annual Meeting April 6-10, 2011 Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort Tucson, AZ NOTE: Disclosure information is listed at the end of this document. MAOA FIRST PLENARY SESSION April 7, 2011 1. Peripheral Nerve Blocks and Incidence of Postoperative Neurogenic Complaints and Pain Scores *Randy R. Clark, M.D. Iowa City, IA John P. Albright, M.D. Iowa City, IA Richard C. Johnston, M.D. Iowa City, IA Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) are a common adjuvant for anesthesia. In our experience PNBs cause a significant incidence of severe pain and neurologic complaints. We instituted a previously validated questionnaire completed by patients at their first postoperative visit. We asked patients to indicate if they received a PNB and to rate their pain on a standardized pain scale at several points in the postoperative period. Patients indicated if they experienced severe pain, had to return to the ER, and if they experienced lasting neurologic complaints. Comparative data was collected on patients who received a PNB and those who did not receive a PNB (control). 307 patients completed the survey, 244 patients with PNBs and 63 control patients. There was a 39.8% incidence of neurologic complaints in patients who received PNBs as compared to 9.5% incidence in patients who did not receive a PNB, P < 0.001. There was 27.9% (PNB) versus 14.3% (control) incidence of severe pain, P 0.027. Twenty-four patients that received PNBs versus five control patients visited the ER, P 0.65. Patients who received PNBs had significantly better pain control immediately after surgery (P 0.02) and trended towards improved pain control the same night (P 0.055), but there was no difference in pain control the morning after surgery, 24 hours after surgery, and at the one week postoperative period (P 0.99, 0.19, and 0.88).