Arthroscopy : the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery : official publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Analgesic effect of intraarticular morphine, bupivacaine, and morphine/bupivacaine after arthroscopic knee surgery.
In a double-blind randomized fashion, 38 patients were divided into four groups according to the intraarticular injection received after arthroscopic surgery. Patients in group I (n = 7) received saline, group II (n = 10) morphine, group III bupivacaine, and group IV (n = 11) morphine and bupivacaine. Before surgery and at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 6, and 24 h postoperatively, pain levels were recorded. ⋯ Although there was a statistically significant difference in pain scores between the saline group and the other three groups during the early postoperative period, there was no significant difference in pain scores between the morphine, bupivacaine, and morphine/bupivacaine groups. We conclude that postoperative, intraarticular injection of analgesics is beneficial in reducing pain levels. The combination of morphine/bupivacaine appears to be the most beneficial analgesic due to its low supplemental analgesic requirements postoperatively.
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Recent reports indicate that combined anterior cruciate ligament/medial collateral ligament (ACL/MCL) knee injuries are usually associated with a lateral meniscus tear. In our center, snow skiing is the athletic activity most frequently associated with this double-ligament injury complex. A sports-specific analysis was undertaken to evaluate the hypothesis that the snow skiing ligament injury is different from similar injuries caused by other athletic activities. ⋯ Skiers were older (average age 35 years) than the nonskiers (average age 28 years). The right knee was injured almost twice as frequently as the left. These data suggest that the double (ACL/MCL) ligament injury in skiers might be distinctly different from that in nonskiers.