• Y-C P Arai, M Ikeuchi, K Fukunaga, W Ueda, T Kimura, and T Komatsu.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, Kochi Medical School, Oko-Cho, Nankoku City, Kochi, Japan. arainon@aichi-med-u.ac.jp
• Br J Anaesth. 2006 Feb 1;96(2):259-61.

BackgroundAlthough local anaesthesia for knee arthroscopy is a well-documented procedure, arthroscopy under local anaesthesia is often interrupted because of intolerable discomfort and pain. Warming local anaesthetic solutions may increase its anaesthetic effect. We tested whether intra-articular injection of warmed lidocaine solution could improve intraoperative anaesthetic and postoperative analgesic conditions.MethodsPatients in the warmed group received 20 ml warmed (40 degrees C) lidocaine 1% intra-articularly 20 min before surgery. The patients in the control group received 20 ml room-temperature (25 degrees C) lidocaine 1% intra-articularly 20 min before surgery. During surgery, the patients reported pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS).ResultsThe median VAS pain score was 1.5 (range, 0.0-3.0) in the warmed lidocaine group and 5.0 (4.0-8.0) in the control group (P<0.001). The median intra- and postoperative analgesic requirements in the control group were significantly greater than that in the warmed group.ConclusionWarmed lidocaine injected intra-articularly provides improved intraoperative anaesthetic and postoperative analgesic conditions for patients undergoing knee arthroscopy.

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