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

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Burn; Regional Anesthesia; Skin Grafting

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 10

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Adrienne James; Phone Number: 206-744-4634; Email: ajames1@uw.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98104
      • Recruiting
      • Harborview Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients 18 years or older who are undergoing skin grafting surgeries

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. 18 years or older
2. Scheduled surgery for STSG w/ donor site coming from thigh
3. Care team requests LAM nerve block

4. Anticipated postop pain in the cutaneous areas of anterior and lateral thigh

   Exclusion Criteria:

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Area of sensory change after nerve block	20 min after nerve block placement

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Washington
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Dorothy Wang, MD, MHA, University of Washington

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 22, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 24, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): October 28, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Burns
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00023101

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No