Evaluation of Pre-emptive Analgesia in Total Knee Arthroplasty During Early Post-operative Periods

Introduction: Pre-emptive analgesia is expected to decrease post-operative pain. The degree of soft tissue release is directly related to preoperative deformity; we presume the severity of pain has a similar correlation in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The main purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of pre-emptive analgesia of different drugs in TKA with different degrees of preoperative genu varus. Methods: In this prospective observational study, 67 patients were enrolled with different degrees of genu varus deformity. They were subdivided into two groups: those with ≥15° and those with <15° varus deformities of the knee. Etoricoxib 60 mg and pregabalin 75 mg were administered orally in all the patients as pre-emptive analgesia two hours before surgery. Parameters such as the amount of soft tissue release, visual analog score (VAS), knee range of motion, complications, etc. were documented from the pre-operative period to 72 hours post-TKA. Results: With pre-emptive analgesia in post-TKA patients, the VAS score demonstrated a statistically significant difference at 24, 48, and 72 hours. The comparison of intraoperative flexion between <15° and ≥15° showed a statistically significant difference with pre-emptive analgesia in post-TKA patients. Conclusion: The use of etoricoxib 60 mg and pregabalin 75 mg, two hours before surgery reduced the pain scores in patients undergoing TKA with different degrees of genu varus and correlated with intraoperative parameters associated with soft medial tissue release for genu varus.