Efficacy of different ways of cocktail analgesic mixture injection on total knee arthroplasty.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of different ways of cocktail analgesic mixture injection on total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: A total of 50 patients with knee osteoarthritis treated by TKA from July to September 2018 were randomly divided into two groups (=25). The Group 1 underwent anterior intra-articular injection before prosthesis implanted while the Group 2 underwent posterior intra-articular injection before prosthesis implanted. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of all patients for pain during activity and at rest, maximal flexion degree of the knee at the 48th h and the 72th h after surgery, the time of raise leg, usage rate of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), and complications were evaluated and analyzed.

Results: VAS for pain at rest of patients in the Group 1 was significantly less than that in the Group 2 at the 6th, 12th, and 24th h after surgery (all <0.05). Maximal flexion degree of the knee at the 48th h and the 72th h after surgery in the Group 1 was better than that in the Group 2 (both <0.05). The Group 1 costed less time than the Group 2 on the ability to perform an active straight leg raise (=0.027).

Conclusions: The anterior intra-articular cocktail analgesic mixture injection can strongly relieve the pain early after TKA, which can improve knee function and achieve painless rehabilitation in most patients, with safety.