Effect of Peripheral Nerve Block on Post-operative Pain and opioid use compared to Periarticular Multimodal Drug Injection following Total Hip Arthroplasty - A Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis v1

INTRODUCTION This protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aims to provide evidence to assess whether Peripheral Nerve Block (PNB) is more effective than Peripheral Multimodal Drug Injection (PMDI) in managing postoperative pain and decreasing analgesic consumption after total hip arthroplasty. METHOD AND ANALYSIS A systematic search will be conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, DOAJ, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and various Trial Registries from their inception up to July 16, 2025. This review will focus on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the analgesic effects of the PENG block compared to local anesthetic infiltration in total hip arthroplasty. The primary outcome will be the use of opioids in the first 24 hours following surgery. Secondary outcomes will comprise opioid consumption at 48 hours, pain levels measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) within the first 6 hours, at 24 hours, and at 48 hours, as well as the length of the hospital stay. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Ethical approval is not applicable. The results shall be published publicly in English. PROSPERO registration number CRD420251104847