title: Local and intra-articular infiltration of bupivacaine before surgery: effect on postoperative pain after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
abstract: In a double-blind, randomized trial, 40 patients undergoing open anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using a bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft were randomly allocated to two groups: group A (n = 20) received an intra-articular instillation of 20 mL bupivacaine (0.25%) and a local infiltration of 20 mL bupivacaine (0.5%) 15 minutes before surgery. Group B (n = 20) received an injection of saline solution in the same manner. Patient-controlled on-demand analgesia (PCA) with intravenous piritramid was used for postoperative pain control. A significant decrease in pain scores on a visual analog scale (VAS scale, 0 to 10) was found in the bupivacaine group (group A) at bedrest on the day of surgery only (pain score, 5.5 v 7.3 (scale, 0 to 10), P < .05). At all other times, no significant differences were found. The overall supplemental opioid requirements were not different between the study groups (63.9 v 62.6 mg piritramid/72 hours). A long-lasting, clinically relevant, pain-reducing effect with infiltration of bupivacaine before surgery could not be shown with this study.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Höher
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kersten
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bouillon
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neugebauer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tiling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007270:Injections, Intra-Articular; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000637:transplantation; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D002045:Bupivacaine