Anaesthetic techniques for knee arthroscopy

Morphine for Pain Relief after Knee Arthroscopy

We performed a randomised double-blind controlled study in patients undergoing elective knee arthroscopy to assess the effect of intra-articular morphine on postoperative pain relief. Patients in the study group (n = 10) received 5 mg of morphine in a 25 ml dilution intra-articularly while those in the control group (n 10) received 25 ml of saline. Postoperative pain was assessed at intervals b...

Arthroscopy and MRI for the knee.

In its early days arthroscopy was used mainly for diagnosis; it saved many knees from unnecessary arthrotomy. Today, MRI is available to save knees from unnecessary arthro-scopy; internal derangements can then be treated by arthro-scopic surgery. Arthrotomy for internal derangement is now obsolete and the debate has moved on to the relative roles of arthroscopy and MRI in the management of knee...

Anaesthetic techniques for carotid surgery.

In the GALA trial (Dec 20, p 2132), all types of regional anaesthesia were grouped as one: “local anaesthesia”. Yet clinical and anatomical studies confi rm important diff erences between simple subcutaneous infi ltration, formal “superfi cial” cervical plexus block, and a deep block. The last two are clinically equally eff ective, anatomical investigations showing that the so-called deep cervi...

Recommendations for driving after right knee arthroscopy.

No established guidelines currently exist to assist orthopedic surgeons in determining when a patient may safely control a motor vehicle after undergoing simple right knee arthroscopy. Despite this lack of concrete evidence, premature postoperative driving could expose orthopedic surgeons to legal liability and, more importantly, patients to danger and further injury. Through questionnaires dir...

Regional anaesthetic techniques for the general practitioners.