38 patients patients scheduled for ankle fusion and/or subtalar fusion under continuous popliteal sciatic nerve block were randomized to receive 30 mL ropivacaine (0.75%) with or without the addition of epinephrine (5 ug/mL). The purpose of the study was to determine how the duration of postoperative analgesia was affected by the addition of epinephrine, as measured by the time elapsed from poplitear catheter placement until the time of first request for postoperative analgesia via patient controlled analgesia. Results indicated that the duration of postoperative analgesia was not significantly increased with the addition of epinephrine to ropivacaine for continuous popliteal nerve block.