The efficacy of fascia iliaca compartment block for pain control after total hip arthroplasty: a meta-analysis

PURPOSE: Fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) provides an analgesic option for total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients. The evidence supporting FICB is still not well established. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess FICB for pain control in THA patients. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Chinese Wanfang database were interrogated from their inceptions to December 15, 2018. We included randomized controlled studies reported as full text, those published as abstracts only, and unpublished data, if available. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers and synthesized using a random-effects model or fixed-effects model according to the heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of eight RCTs were finally included for meta-analysis. Compared with placebo, FICB could significantly reduce VAS pain scores at 1–8 h (WMD = − 0.78, 95% CI [− 1.01, − 0.56], P = 0.000), 12 h (WMD = − 0.69, 95% CI [− 1.22, − 0.16], P = 0.011), and 24 h (WMD = − 0.46, 95% CI [− 0.89, − 0.02], P = 0.039). Compared with the control group, FICB could significantly decrease the occurrence of nausea and length of hospital stay (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the VAS pain score at 48 h and risk of fall between the FICB and the control groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FICB could be used to effectively reduce pain intensity up to 24 h, total morphine consumption, and length of hospital stay in THA patients. Optimal strategies of FICB need to be studied in the future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13018-018-1053-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.