The analgesic effect and safety of preoperative versus postoperative administration of celecoxib in patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: a randomized, controlled study.

Aims: Celecoxib presents a good analgesic effect in patients who undergo arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) surgery, while few studies investigate the optimal timing of celecoxib administration. This study aimed to explore the analgesic effect of preoperative versus postoperative administration of celecoxib in ARCR-treated patients.

Methods: A total of 106 ARCR-treated patients were enrolled and randomized at a 1:1 ratio into preoperative analgesia group (N = 53) and postoperative analgesia group (N = 53). The pain visual analog scale (VAS) score at rest or flexion, salvage consumption of pethidine, patient's satisfaction score, modified University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) score and adverse events were evaluated.

Results: Pain VAS scores at rest at 12 h and D1 (but not D2, D3 or D7) and pain VAS scores at flexion at 12 h, D1 and D2 (but not D3 or D7) were decreased in preoperative analgesia group compared to postoperative analgesia group. Meanwhile, rescue analgesia rate and 7-day pethidine consumption in preoperative analgesia group were lower than that in postoperative analgesia group. Besides, the overall satisfaction scores at D1 and D3 (but not at D7 or M3) were elevated in preoperative analgesia group compared to postoperative analgesia group. However, no difference of modified UCLA scores at D7 or M3, or the occurrences of adverse events were found between the two groups.

Conclusions: Celecoxib preoperative administration remits acute pain and facilitates satisfaction but does not improve long-term shoulder joint function recovery compared to its postoperative administration in patients who undergo ARCR surgery.