Discontinuing Femoral Nerve blocks

[tracern77]

Our hospital started using FNB's in our Total knee replacement population about 1 1/2 years ago. They seem to be working great! Alot less side effects than the epidural, and great pain relief when they work right. We usually D/C our FNB's on POD#2. Sometimes we don't always have a Nurse anesthetist on duty, and the nurses aren't trained to pull them. So you have a patient trying to do therapy with this FNB still in. Can't be the most comfortable. Unless we can get an anethesiologist up to do it in between cases. Anyway, my question is...do any of you pull them with a surgeon's order? Have you run into any problems? They don't seem that difficult, but everything comes with it's complications. We will probably develop a competancy so all the nurses can eventually pull them, in the meantime, we are just going to train a few of us before we train the rest of the staff. Any input welcome, or if anyone has already developed a competacy or has any education materials...it woud be greatly apreciated!

[pinkandgreenRN]

No, we have an orthopedic nurse practitioner and a physicians assistant on the floor daily that pulls them out.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Is there a great difference in those and in pulling a scalene block or an epidural?

[pinkandgreenRN]

Is there a great difference in those and in pulling a scalene block or an epidural?

I don't think so. Although I have not pulled either one.

[pinkandgreenRN]

P_RN,

I pulled my first femoral nerve block Friday and it was no different from pulling an epidural. It was quite exciting. :balloons:

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I'm pulled many a Fem block :)

On a related note: I see Fascia blocks work better than femoral blocks (and of course, it depends entirely on who is the anesthesiologist who does 'em )