Provision of fascia iliaca compartment block in the acute management of proximal femoral fractures: A national observational study of UK hospitals.

AIMS: Fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) is a simple regional anaesthetic block that has been shown to be superior to other regional anaesthetic blocks with regards to success rate and analgesic efficacy in the acute management of proximal femoral fractures. The objective was to quantitatively assess the provision of FICB for patients with proximal femoral fractures in the UK.

METHODS: A national observational study of all acute medical trusts in the UK (n=187) was conducted. Each trust was contacted and asked to complete a freedom of information request relating to the use of regional nerve blocks in patients with a proximal femoral fracture between 2/11/2014 and 2/11/2015. The STROBE checklist was used to help design and conduct the study.

RESULTS: 144/187(77.0%) of medical trusts across the UK responded. Overall, 61.8% of trusts routinely performed FICB for patients with a neck of femur (NOF) fracture. The number of trusts with a specific standardised proforma for NOF fracture patients was 127/144 (88.2%), while 83/144 (57.6%) included a section relating to FICB. 50/144 (34.7%) of trusts had no hospital related guideline for FICBs in NOF fracture patients. The use of analgesia in NOF fracture patients was audited in 95/144 (66.0%) of trusts. Where FICB was administered, the procedure was typically conducted by specialists in emergency medicine (50.6%), anaesthetics (34.6%) and orthopaedics (14.8%). Common reasons for lack of FICB provision include: lack of trained staff, resumption of adequate analgesia via other methods and a perception that there is insufficient evidence for routine use of peripheral nerve blocks improving survival and outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: Administration of regional nerve blocks for patients with proximal femoral fractures is increasing but variable between trusts. Further work should examine how barriers to the delivery of FICBs might be addressed.