INTRAARTICULAR ANALGESIA FOLLOWING KNEE ARTHROSCOPY

A randomized, double-blind, controlled study was conducted in patients undergoing elective knee arthroscopy to assess the analgesic effect o f intraarticular morphine and bupivacaine, alone and in combination. P atients in group 1 (n = 10) received 5 mg of morphine in 25 mL of sali ne; patients in group 2 (n = 10) received 25 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine ( 62.5 mg); patients in group 3 (n = 10) received a combination of 5 mg of morphine and 62.5 mg of bupivacaine in 25 mL dilution; and patients in group 4 (n = 10) received 25 mL of saline. All the drugs were inje cted intraarticularly Postoperative pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h after the intraarticular injec tion. The need for supplemental analgesia was recorded. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the pain scores or analge sic requirements between groups 1 and 3. Patients in groups 1 and 3 ha d significantly lower pain scores than those in groups 2 and 4. These low pain scores were associated with lower requirements of supplementa ry analgesics. The patients in group 4 showed the highest pain scores and analgesic requirements. We conclude that intraarticular morphine s ignificantly reduces postoperative pain following knee arthroscopy and that there is no advantage of combining bupivacaine with morphine.