Dexamethasone with aggressive warming facilitates pain reduction, reduced blood loss, and quicker recovery after total hip arthroplasty

This study aimed to evaluate the optimal frequency of dexamethasone (DEX) administration and the efficacy of DEX with aggressive warming in total hip arthroplasty (THA), which remains unclear. A total of 150 patients were treated with DEX (10 mg) once before and once or twice after surgery with or without intraoperative aggressive warming. On postoperative day 3, the dynamic visual analogue scale scores and C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in participants administered with DEX twice after surgery were significantly lower than those who did not receive the second dose. The range of motion (ROM), postoperative fatigue based on Identity-Consequence-Fatigue Scale, average temperature at different stages, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative drainage volume in patients who were subjected to warming were significantly higher than those who were not. The degree of satisfaction was also higher in the patients who received both second dose and warming than those who received neither. No differences in complications were observed based on the treatments. An additional dose of DEX at 48 h post-surgery has short-term advantages in terms of analgesia, anti-inflammatory effects, and accelerated rehabilitation after THA. DEX combined with aggressive warming further optimises short-term ROM and fatigue and improves the degree of satisfaction. Clinical trial was registered in the International Clinical Trial Registry, and the date of registration is 2/12/2020 (ChiCTR2000040560).