Postoperative analgesia is provided by local anesthesia combined with intrathecal narcotics. In addition, for the first 24 hours, this combination has a parenteral opioid sparing effect. However, despite its benefits, this method has been associated to an increased incidence of urine retention, nausea, and vomiting, as well as pruritus. A new localized analgesic approach called as IPACK (infiltration between the knee capsule and the popliteal artery) has been employed in practice.

The goal of this study was to compare fentanyl based spinal anesthesia to IPACK Block-based spinal anesthesia during knee arthroscopy.

Patients and Methods: The study enrolled sixty patients with ASA (I-II) ranging in age from 25 to 60 years old after receiving ethical committee permission and written informed consent from patients. They were divided into two groups: group F (30 patients) received spinal anesthesia using hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% (3ml) with fentanyl (25ug) and group I (30 patients) received spinal anesthesia using hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% (3ml) with IPACK Block using plain bupivacaine 0.5% (15ml). Results: In the first 4 hours postoperatively, there were no variations in VAS scores between the two groups; however, following 4 hours and over the next 12 hours, Group I, VAS scores were lower. The amount of morphine used overall was lower in Group I, which took longer than Group F to reach initial rescue analgesia. The level of patient satisfaction 48 hours after surgery was higher in group I than in group F.

Inclusion Criteria:

age from 25 to 60 years old, with ASA physical status I-III undergoing for knee arthroscopy

Exclusion Criteria:

Patient refusal, neuromuscular diseases, allergies to local anesthetics, and contraindications to spinal anesthesia such as coagulopathy and severe mitral stenosis