Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026
Surgical Approach and Complications of Stand-alone Lateral Trans-Psoas Interbody Fusion
Published on: February 14, 2025
Psoas Versus Femoral Blocks: A Registry Analysis of Risks and Benefits
Hagen Bomberg1, Andrea Huth, Stefan Wagenpfeil
1From the *Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Medicine, and †Institute for Medical Biometry, Epidemiology and Medical Informatics, Saarland University, University Medical Center, Homburg/Saar; ‡Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Orthopedic University, Hospital, Frankfurt; §Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Therapy, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg; ∥Department of Anesthesia, Intensive and Palliative Care Medicine, Solingen Academic Hospital of the University of Cologne, Solingen; **Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Friederikenstift Hospital, Hannover; ††Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hospital Calw-Nagold, Nagold; ‡‡Department of Anesthesiology, St Marien-Hospital, Siegen; §§Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine, Charité Campus Virchow Klinikum and Campus Mitte, Charité University Medicine, Berlin; ∥∥Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, University and Rehabilitation Clinics, Ulm; ***Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, HELIOS Hospital Erfurt, Erfurt; †††Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, University Hospital, Dresden, Germany; and ‡‡‡Department of Outcomes Research, Anesthesiology Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
Background And Objectives:
Psoas blocks are an alternative to femoral nerve blocks and have the potential advantage of blocking the entire lumbar plexus. However, the psoas muscle is located deeply, making psoas blocks more difficult than femoral blocks. In contrast, while femoral blocks are generally easy to perform, the inguinal region is prone to infection. We thus tested the hypothesis that psoas blocks are associated with more insertion-related complications than femoral blocks but have fewer catheter-related infections.
Methods:
We extracted 22,434 surgical cases from the German Network for Regional Anesthesia registry (2007-2014) and grouped cases as psoas (n = 7593) and femoral (n = 14,841) blocks. Insertion-related complications (including single-shot blocks and catheter) and infectious complications (including only catheter) in each group were compared with χ tests. The groups were compared with multivariable logistic models, adjusted for potential confounding factors.
Results:
After adjustment for potential confounding factors, psoas blocks were associated with more complications than femoral blocks including vascular puncture 6.3% versus 1.1%, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 3.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.9-4.6; P < 0.001), and multiple skin punctures 12.6% versus 7.7%, with an aOR of 2.6 (95% CI, 2.1-3.3; P <0.001). Psoas blocks were also associated with fewer catheter-related infections: 0.3% versus 0.9% (aOR of 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8; P = 0.016), and with improved patient satisfaction (mean ± SD 0- to 10-point scale score, 9.6 ± 1.2 vs 8.4 ± 2.9; P < 0.001). Results from a propensity-matched sensitivity analysis were similar.
Conclusions:
Psoas blocks are associated with more insertion-related complications but fewer infectious complications.
Clinical Trial Registration:
ID NCT02846610.
