Post-Operative Analgesic Effect of Intra-Articular Local Anaesthetic Infiltration versus Adductor Canal Block after Knee Arthroscopic Surgeries

Abstract

Knee arthroscopy is one of day-case surgeries; it may lead to significant postoperative pain, usually in the first 2 days after the operation. Uncontrolled postoperative pain can lead to multiple consequences, including decreased patients’ satisfaction, increased risk of thromboembolism, prolonged hospital stay, as well as declined motion range of the joint, and prevent early rehabilitation. Several methods have been described for postoperative pain control, such as epidural analgesia, peripheral nerve blockade, intra-articular injection, analgesia, and narcotics. Among these techniques, the use of narcotics is the most popular practice, but in association with multiple side effects, including respiratory depression, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, pruritis, reduced intestinal motility, and urinary retention. The Adductor Canal Block (ACB) is a block of the saphenous nerve, which is a branch of the femoral nerve, performed at the level of lower third of the thigh so that the motor innervation of the quadriceps group is spared, the most significant advantage of the ACB over femoral nerve block and other techniques is that it is a pure sensory block provides postoperative analgesia that is at least as good as FNB while preserving quadriceps strength help early ambulation and rehabilitation and reduces the incidence of fall after knee surgeries.