Surgical technology international
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Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a commonly-performed orthopaedic procedure in the United States. However, inadequate postoperative pain management following TKA has been associated with a number of negative consequences, including chronic postoperative pain requiring long-term opioid use. Multimodal pain control is a recently-popularized means of maximizing analgesia and postoperative outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of a multimodal pain regimen incorporating diclofenac, including: 1) length of stay (LOS); 2) pain intensity; and 3) opioid consumption in primary TKA patients. ⋯ In the midst of the rapidly-increasing rates of TKA in the US, multimodal pain control has emerged as an extremely effective means of maximizing postoperative patient outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the postoperative outcomes of TKA patients treated with a regimen of IV diclofenac. We demonstrate shorter LOS, decreased 24-hour pain intensity, and significantly decreased 24-hour opioid consumption in patients treated with adjunctive IV diclofenac compared to patients managed with our institution's standard perioperative regimen.