Obturator Nerve Block
CT-guided obturator nerve block (ONB) is a fast, easy and safe procedure that may be used for mid-term (weeks) and sometimes even long-term (months) treatment of hip pain.
An obturator nerve block is a nerve block administered to the areas including hip, anterior thigh, knee, lower leg or foot. Experts suggest that the obturator nerve is a mixed nerve, which in most cases, provides motor function to the adductor muscles and cutaneous sensation to a small area behind
the knee.
The obturator nerve supplies a small, variable amount of skin on the medial aspect of the knee and lower thigh. Importantly enough, it also has branches to the knee and hip joint.
Uses for Obturator Nerve Blocks:
| Diagnostic: |
To determine whether the nerve in question is the actual source of pain. |
| Therapeutic: |
To treat painful conditions that respond positively to the nerve blocks |
| Prognostic: |
To predict outcome of permanent interventions such as infusion, neurolysis and rhizotomy. |
| Preemptive: |
To prevent painful sequence of procedures that may cause phantom limb, causalgia or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. |
Conditions Treated by Obturator Nerve Blocks
An obturator nerve block is most often used to treat hip joint pain and in the relief of adductor muscle spasm associated with hemi-or paraplegia.
Occasionally, the obturator nerve block is also used in urological surgery to suppress the obturator reflex during the transurethral resection of the lateral bladder wall.
In fact, research strongly suggests that the obturator reflex is not prevented by spinal anesthesia and can only be suppressed by a selective obturator nerve block.
In addition, the obturator nerve block may also be successfully used in diagnosing the causes of pain in the hip region. Besides, the block of obturator nerve relieves both, the spasm of the adductors and the hip pain, often associated with cerebral palsy.
Possible Complications
There are no reports of complications associated with the obturator nerve block. However, a few but serious complications could occur because of the obturator nerve block. Here we list the main amongst them:
- If advanced too far in a cephalad direction, the needle can pass over the superior pubic ramus and penetrate the pelvic cavity, perforating the bladder, rectum and spermatic cord.
- Accidental puncture of the obturator vessels could result in an unintentional intravascular injection.
- Nerve ischemia or local anesthetic toxicity are also possible, as in other peripheral nerve block techniques.
Preparing for Appointment
Please keep your food and drink intake to a minimum up to a few hours before the procedure.
You should also have someone else drive you home after the procedure. |
For 
This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor.
