Background: Sciatic nerve block is widely used for anesthesia and analgesia in lower limb surgery, traditional method used for sciatic nerve block is nerve stimulation guidance. Whether the use of ultrasound-guided technology can increases the success rate of sciatic nerve block and provide other benefits are not defined. This meta-analysis was aimed to clarify this issue.
Method: We searched Pubmed, the Cochrane library and Google Scholar. A total of 10 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. The patients included underwent ultrasound-guided or nerve stimulation guidance for sciatic nerve block. We compared the success rate, vascular puncture, the time of procedure and Success rate of catheter placement.
Results: Ultrasound-guided technology, compared with nerve stimulation for sciatic nerve block, provided higher success rate. [RR = 1.22 95% CI: 1.04-1.42, P = 0.01], Ultrasound guidance also reduce the risk of vascular puncture. [RR = 0.13 95% CI: 0.02-0.97, P = 0.05]. However, the success rate of catheter placement [RR = 1.1095% CI: 0.93-1.29, P = 0.27] and the time of performing sciatica never block [RR = -0.17 95% CI: -1.61-1.27, P = 0.82] did not differ significantly.
Conclusions: Compared to traditional nerve stimulation guidance, ultrasound guidance for sciatic nerve may improve the success rate of block and reduce the risk of vascular puncture.
Keywords: Sciatic never block; meta-analysis; ultrasound-guided technology.