Fascia Iliaca Block Using Liposomal Bupivacaine for Analgesia After Hip Fracture Surgery

Older patients with hip fractures often suffer from severe pain. Inadequate analgesia increases the risk of postoperative delirium, myocardial injury, and other complications. Peripheral nerve block is an important component of multimodal analgesia, but conventional local anesthetics (such as plain bupivacaine) provide only approximately 12 hours of analgesic duration, which is far from covering the most painful 72 hours after surgery. Liposomal bupivacaine has a slow-release property, prolonging the analgesic duration up to 72 hours after a single injection. However, its clinical advantages in hip fracture surgery remain controversial. The investigators suppose that, compared with plain bupivacaine alone, preoperative supra-inguinal fascia iliaca block using liposomal bupivacaine combined with plain bupivacaine can further improve analgesia, decrease opioid consumption, and improve postoperative recovery quality within 72 hours in older patients after hip fracture surgery.

Inclusion Criteria: * Aged ≥ 55 years. * Diagnosed as hip fracture and scheduled to undergo hip replacement surgery. * Agree to receive regional nerve block and postoperative patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA). Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to communicate due to visual, auditory, language, or other reasons before surgery. * Chronic opioid dependence and long-term use of various types of analgesics (for more than 3 months). * Severe coagulation abnormalities (International Normalized Ratio \> 1.7, activated partial thromboplastin time exceeding the normal value by more than 4 seconds, platelet count \< 80 × 10⁹/L), trauma or infection at the intended puncture site, or severe low back pain. * Preoperative severe renal insufficiency (serum creatinine \> 442 μmol/L or requiring renal replacement therapy), hepatic insufficiency (Child-Pugh class C), or ASA physical status \> IV. * Known allergy to local anesthetics. * Any other condition that the investigator or attending physician deems unsuitable for participation in the study.