Local Infiltration Analgesia reduces pain and hospital stay after primary TKA: randomized controlled double blind trial.

Postoperative analgesia following Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) with the use of parenteral opioids or epidural analgesia can be associated with important side effects. Good perioperative analgesia facilitates faster rehabilitation, improves patient satisfaction, and may reduce the hospital stay. We investigated the analgesic effect of a locally injected mixture of drugs, in a double blinded RCT in 80 primary TKA. They were randomized either to receive a periarticular mixture of drugs containing bupivacaine, ketorolac, morphine, and adrenalline or to receive normal saline. Visual analog scores (VAS) for pain (at rest and during activity) and for patient satisfaction and range of motion were recorded postoperatively. The patients who had received the periarticular injection used significantly less the Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) after the surgery as compared to the control group. In addition, they had lower VAS for pain during rest and activity and higher visual analog scores for patient satisfaction 72 hours postoperatively. No major complication related to the drugs was observed. Intraoperative periarticular injection with multimodal drugs following TKA can significantly reduce the postoperative pain and hence the requirements for PCA and hospital stay, with no apparent risks.