BMC anesthesiology
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Intra-articular local anaesthetics are widely used for providing postoperative analgesia and decreasing the need for opioids. Procaine has proven positive effects in carpal tunnel syndrome and chondromalacia patella. However, the effect of procaine on articular cartilage has not yet been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of intra-articular procaine injection on the articular cartilage and the synovium. ⋯ Injection of procaine seems safe to use intra-articularly based on this in vivo study on rat knee cartilage. However, further studies investigating both the analgesic and histopathological effects of procaine on damaged articular cartilage and synovium models are needed.