Efficacy of Periarticular Local Infiltrative Analgesic Injection on Postoperative Pain Control and Functional Outcome in Sequential Bilateral Total Knee Replacement: A Prospective Controlled Trial in 120 Consecutive Patients

Background One of the drawbacks of total knee replacements (TKR) is the early postoperative pain, which affects patient satisfaction and increases the duration of rehabilitation. The present study analyzes the potency of local infiltrative analgesia and its effect on rehabilitation in bilateral sequential TKRs. Materials and Methods The present prospective observational study was conducted on 120 patients undergoing bilateral sequential TKR performed by a single surgeon using an anterior midline incision with a standard medial parapatellar approach. At the end of the surgery, a periarticular cocktail injection was administered to one knee, whereas the other knee served as the control. Postoperatively, patients were assessed for the pain level in each knee based on the visual analog scale (VAS) score and improvement in the range of motion (ROM). Intergroup and intragroup analyses were performed using the unpaired t test and analysis of variance, respectively. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Of the 120 patients, 58% were women and 42% were men with a mean age of 62.14 ± 8.58 years. The postoperative mean VAS score was significantly lower in the test knee group than in the control knee group ( p < 0.05). The postoperative mean ROM was more in the test group as compared to the control group on days 3 and 7 ( p < 0.05), whereas it was comparable on day 14 ( p > 0.05). Conclusion Periarticular injection of a drug combination in patients managed with bilateral TKRs that are done simultaneously reduces the early postoperative pain and improves rehabilitation during the first week after surgery.