Does femoral nerve catheter placement with stimulating catheters improve effective placement?
Morin AM; Eberhart LH; Behnke HK; Wagner S; Koch T; Wolf U; Nau W; Kill C; Geldner G; Wulf H Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, Baldingerstrasse, 35043 Marburg, Germany. a.morin@web.de Continuous peripheral nerve blocks offer the benefit of extended postoperative analgesia and accelerated functional recovery after major knee surgery. Conventional nerve localization is performed over a stimulating needle followed by blind insertion of the peripheral catheter. Correct catheter placement is confirmed by testing for satisfactory analgesia. Stimulating catheters offer the advantage of verifying correct placement close to the nerve during catheter placement. The aim of this randomized trial was to determine whether accurate catheter positioning under continuous stimulation accelerates the onset of sensory and motor block, improves the quality of postoperative analgesia, and enhances functional recovery. We compared femoral nerve catheters in
