Ss. Reuben et Nr. Connelly, POSTARTHROSCOPIC MENISCUS REPAIR ANALGESIA WITH INTRAARTICULAR KETOROLAC OR MORPHINE, Anesthesia and analgesia, 82(5), 1996, pp. 1036-1039
Both ketorolac, a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, and morphine, an
opioid agonist, provide enhanced patient analgesia after arthroscopic
knee surgery when administered via the intraarticular route. This stu
dy was designed to determine whether ketorolac or morphine results in
better patient analgesia and whether their combination would provide s
uperior analgesia to either drug alone. Patients undergoing arthroscop
ic knee meniscus repair under local anesthesia with sedation were eval
uated. Each of the study groups evaluated received ketorolac (either v
ia the parenteral or intraarticular route) and morphine (via either th
e parenteral or intraarticular route). This study revealed a significa
nt benefit from the individual intraarticular administration of both m
orphine and ketorolac. The combination of these drugs did not result i
n decreased postoperative pain or need for postoperative analgesics, a
nd it did not result in an increased analgesic duration. We conclude t
hat the use of either intraarticular ketorolac or intraarticular morph
ine improves comfort in patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscus repa
ir and that their combination offers no advantage over either drug alo
ne.