162 patients scheduled for total hip arthroplasty were randomized to either nerve block of the lateral femoral cutaneous and subcostal nerves with ropivacaine, or to placebo intervention with saline infiltration. Patients were assessed over the first 40 hours for analgesic outcomes (pain scores, rescue analgesia use) and complications, and at 6-week follow-up for functional outcomes and quality-of-life outcome. Results demonstrated that, besides lower pain scores in the nerve block group at 6 hours only, there were no significant differences between groups for any outcome measure.