Promoting the Incorporation of Regional Anesthesia to Improve Pain Management for Lower Extremity Surgeries

Abstract

Opioid addiction in the United States is a healthcare crisis and continues to increase yearly. Multimodal pain management is a priority intervention that needs to be implemented to manage pain with less intra and postoperative opioid use. Peripheral nerve blocks are one alternative that can be used to decrease opioid use and assist in controlling pain for foot and ankle surgeries. This project aims to educate, develop, and create a protocol for popliteal nerve blocks at Hillsboro Area Hospital in Hillsboro, Illinois. As a result, the long-term goal is to reduce opioid administration and improve pain control. An educational PowerPoint presentation was provided for the surgical perioperative personnel and anesthesia providers in July 2023. Pre- and post-presentation surveys were distributed to evaluate knowledge gained from the educational presentation. It was noted that there was a significant improvement between the pretest and posttest scores, indicating an increased understanding of the benefits of popliteal nerve blocks and the resultant reduction of opioid use and improved pain control. The results positively impacted the implementation of a popliteal block protocol and provided education for its use. Utilization of the popliteal block protocol could potentially reduce opioid administration for pain control of patients undergoing foot and ankle surgeries. As a result, it improves patient satisfaction, reduces the length of hospital stays, and reduces patient and institutional costs