Adductor Canal Block vs Intra-articular Catheter in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Double Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial

Sheldon Moniz, Samuel Duff, Christopher W Jones, Alex Swann, Matthew Harper, Piers J Yates
2021 Journal of Orthopaedic Science and Research  
Aims: Approximately half of patients undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) experience severe perioperative pain. The ideal analgesic regimen for perioperative pain control in patients undergoing TKA is yet to be determined. Methods: A prospective, double-blinded, randomised clinical trial was performed, comparing adductor canal blocks versus intra-articular pain catheters in 100 patients undergoing unilateral total knee replacement by a single surgeon. All other analgesic aspects of the
more » ... perative care were kept standard. Patients underwent an identical surgical approach and all received an Attune TKA (Depuy etc). Post-operative pain levels, Range of Movement (ROM) and opioid equivalent breakthrough analgesia were recorded. All assessors were blinded to group allocation. In addition patients completed WOMAC and Oxford knee scores. Southampton wound score was used to detect adverse outcomes. Results: There were no differences in baseline demographics between the groups preoperative Visual Analogue Pain Score (VAS), Oxford Knee Scores (OKS) or WOMAC scores. Conclusion: A single shot adductor canal block is not inferior to an intra-articular catheter for perioperative pain management in total knee arthroplasty. Summary Explore the short term efficacy and mid-term outcomes of intrarticular catheter versus single shot adductor canal block for total knee arthroplasty. Both intraarticular catheter and single shot adductor canal block are efficacious in perioperative pain management for total knee arthroplasty. This study comprises a double blinded randomised control trial with minimum one year follow up. Limited perioperative outcomes including severity of osteoarthritis with or without degree of varus/valgus mal-alignment, tourniquet and/or operating time might affect the index outcomes.
doi:10.46889/josr.2021.2102 fatcat:tlxbckzzxnaupoon6jorabkite