Acta orthopaedica
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Background and purpose - The effect of postoperative intra-articular bolus injections after total hip arthroplasty (THA) remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that intra-articular bolus injections administered every 6 hours after surgery during the first 24 hours would significantly improve analgesia after THA. Patients and methods - 80 patients undergoing THA received high-volume local infiltration analgesia (LIA; 200 mg ropivacaine and 30 mg ketorolac) followed by 4 intra-articular injections with either ropivacaine (100 mg) and ketorolac (15 mg) (the treatment group) or saline (the control group). ⋯ Time to readiness for hospital discharge was longer in the treatment group. Other secondary outcomes were similar between groups. Interpretation - Postoperative intra-articular bolus injections of ropivacaine and ketorolac cannot be recommended as analgesic method after THA.