The Lateral, Anterior, Medial (LAM) Femoral Cutaneous Block: A Case Series Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA

Skin donor sites in patients undergoing split-thickness skin grafting surgeries can be very painful postoperatively. This site is most often the anterolateral thigh, the pain at which location can traditionally be covered by a fascia iliaca nerve block, although that comes with the disadvantage of losing motor functions in the femoral nerve distribution. The LAM nerve block, which is relatively new, aims to provide analgesia in the distribution of the lateral and anterior femoral cutaneous nerves. In short, this nerve block would decrease the sensation of the anterolateral thigh area without affecting the motor function of the leg. Investigators aim to study the consistency and coverage size of sensation changes by mapping out the area after the block in each patient.

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Key information

Conditions

Regional Anesthesia Burn Burns Skin Grafting Wounds and Injuries

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Harborview Medical Center

Seattle, Washington, 98104, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

18 years or older
Scheduled surgery for STSG w/ donor site coming from thigh
Care team requests LAM nerve block
Anticipated postop pain in the cutaneous areas of anterior and lateral thigh

Exclusion criteria

Inability to communicate sensation or motor changes in their body
Preexisting sensory or motor deficits in the femoral nerve distribution
Contraindication to the medication used or a peripheral nerve block, such as allergy to amide local anesthetics, severe liver dysfunction, injection site infection etc
Pregnancy
Prisoners
Non-English Speaking/reading
Surgeries with anticipated or actual duration of 6 hours or longer
TBSA 20% or greater
Severe distracting injuries/polytrauma (e.g., large or significant bone fractures)

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

Area of sensory change after nerve block

Time frame: 20 min after nerve block placement

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Adrienne James

CONTACT

[email protected]

206-744-4634

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Washington

Other

Registry information

Acronym: LAM

Important dates

Study start: 2025
Primary completion: 2026
Study completion: 2026
First posted: Oct 28, 2025
Registry last updated: Nov 4, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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