Percutaneous periarticular analgesic injection at one day after simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty: an open-label randomized control trial

BACKGROUND: The postoperative pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remains a critical issue. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical effectiveness of percutaneous periarticular injection at 1 day following simultaneous bilateral TKA. METHODS: A total of 88 knees in 44 patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral TKA were randomly assigned to receive a percutaneous periarticular injection at 1 day following surgery (n = 22 patients) or no injection (n = 22 patients). In the additional injection group, we injected a solution including methylprednisolone, ropivacaine, and epinephrine into the muscle belly of the vastus medialis at 1 day after surgery. In both groups, patients received an intraoperative periarticular multi-drug injection and postoperative intravenous and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The primary outcome measure was the postoperative pain at rest using a visual analog scale (VAS) and analyzed with Student’s t test. RESULTS: Compared to the no additional injection group, the additional periarticular injection group had significantly lower VAS score at 8:00 PM postoperative day 1, 6:00 AM postoperative day 2, 12:00 PM postoperative day 2, 6:00 AM postoperative day 5, 12:00 PM postoperative day 5, and 8:00 PM postoperative day 5 (p < 0.05). The rate of complication did not differ between groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Additional percutaneous periarticular injection at 1 day following TKA adding to intraoperative periarticular injection provided better postoperative pain relief. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at the University Hospital Medical Information Network (registration number: UMIN000029759).