Both Intracapsular and Extracapsular Hip Fractures Likely to Benefit from Femoral Nerve Blocks

Ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block is increasingly used for analgesia in emergency department patients with hip fracture. Given the anatomy of innervation, a logical question is whether intracapsular fractures might be less amenable to this technique than extracapsular fractures. These investigators conducted a secondary analysis of data from 68 patients aged ≥60 years who received a femoral nerve block for a hip fracture in a prior trial in three academic medical centers.

Fractures were intracapsular in 31 patients and extracapsular in 37. Both groups had significant reductions in pain at 2 and 3 hours. The degree of pain did not differ significantly between the intracapsular and extracapsular groups at 2 hours (mean score on a 6-point s…