Evaluation of analgesic regimens in total knee arthroplasty, retrospective study

INTRODUCTION[|]Analgesic therapies have an immense role in early rehabilitation period after Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and multimodal approaches should be considered as the first choice. In this retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal analgesic therapies for TKA, including FNB and patient controlled analgesia (PCA).[¤]METHODS[|]We retrospectively evaluated 79 patients who underwent TKA between January and December 2016. Sixty-three patients met inclusion criteria. Hemodynamic records and VAS scores for 0-2-4-6-9-12 hours were evaluated and patients were separated into three groups. Group 1: FNB with %0.25 bupivacaine, Group 2: FNB with %0.166 Bupivacaine, Group 3: No FNB.[¤]RESULTS[|]Average age of patients was 64.3+-14.9 years and average BMI was 32.5+-5.3 kg/m2. There was not statistical difference between the age, gender, ASA scores, BMI and anaesthesia types for all groups (p0.05). When difference between groups 1-3 and groups 2-3 were compared, the difference was statistically significantly for VAS 0 (p>0.05). Additional analgesic use was highest in group 3.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]This study has shown that FNB significantly decreases postoperative pain intensity and additional analgesia requirements in patients undergoing TKA. A concentration of 0.166% bupivacaine is as effective as a concentration of 0.25% when used as part of multimodal analgesia regimen in TKA.[¤]