Continuous Intra-articular Analgesic Injection Versus Continuous Adductor Canal Block in Postoperative Total Knee Arthroplasty

Continuous adductor canal block (CACB) provides effective analgesia after TKA but this technique requires skill of anesthesiologists and equipment such as ultrasonography. A new technique, continuous intra-articular analgesia injection (CIA) is developed recently and found good results. However, effectiveness of these two techniques after TKA is not established. PURPOSES: We determined whether, after TKA, patients with CIA versus patients with CACB demonstrated (1) decreased pain scores (2) greater ambulatory ability postoperatively (3) decreased daily opioid consumption and hospital length of stay METHODS: Between October 2016 and October 2018, 50 patients underwent unilateral TKA at our practice site, whom 50% (n = 25) had CACBs and the others had CIAs. The results were collected in postoperative day (POD) 1,2 and 3. RESULTS: The results were analyzed by SPSS V18 and used student T-test for measurement of mean visual analog pain scale, time up-and-go test, 6-minute walk test and daily total opioid consumption and knee society score. All results show no statistical significant difference between two groups. CONCLUSION: This study shows continuous intra-articular injection in postoperative TKA is as effective as continuous adductor canal block. It can be used as alternative in postoperative TKA.