ANALGESIA FOLLOWING DAY-CASE KNEE ARTHROSCOPY - THE EFFECT OF PIROXICAM WITH OR WITHOUT BUPIVACAINE INFILTRATION

Sixty patients presenting for day-case arthroscopy of the knee under g eneral anaesthesia were studied. Patients were randomly allocated to r eceive, in addition to intramuscular piroxicam 20 mg, either bupivacai ne 0.25% 20 ml applied locally to the knee at the end of the procedure (n = 30) or no further intra-operative analgesia (n = 30). Visual ana logue pain scores were significantly lower at 1, 2 and 4 h postoperati vely in the bupivacaine group (p < 0.05). A higher proportion of patie nts in the piroxicam-only group required supplemental analgesia before discharge from hospital. The combination of piroxicam and bupivacaine provided superior analgesia to piroxicam alone.