RESEARCH ARTICLE


Post-Operative Pain After Knee Arthroscopy and Related Factors



G.I Drosos*, 1, N.I Stavropoulos2, A Katsis3, K Kesidis4, K Kazakos1, D.-A Verettas1
1 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
2 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, General Hospital of Kalamata, Kalamata, Greece
3 School of Social Science, University of Peloponnese, Korinthos, Greece
4 Department of Anesthesiology, Attikon Hospital, Athens, Greece


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© Drosos et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece; E-mail: drosos@med.duth.gr


Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the intensity of post-arthroscopy knee pain during the first 24 hours, and to study the influence of pre-operative pain, tourniquet time and amount of surgical trauma on post-arthroscopy pain. In 78 male patients that underwent elective arthroscopic menisectomy or diagnostic arthroscopy of the knee, preoperative and post-operative pain were registered using the Visual Analogue Scale. Variance for repeated measures and for independent observations was analysed. Supplementary analgesia was required for 23% of the patients, more often in the recovery room and between 2 and 8 hours postoperatively. Of all factors analyzed, only time was statistically significant in determining the level of post-operative pain. Supplementary analgesia was required only in patients that underwent operative arthroscopy, and more often in patients with tourniquet time of more than 40 minutes. In conclusions, post-operative time is the most significant factor related to the post-arthroscopy knee pain.