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Location of analgesic injection site has no effect on pain relief after rotator cuff repair
Recently published data indicated no difference was observed in pain relief among patients who received local analgesic injections in three different sites after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.
Researchers enrolled 121 patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, randomly assigning the patients to one of three different groups. Group one included 40 patients who received a glenohumeral injection of bupivacaine 20 mL and lidocaine 10 mL after surgery. The 42 patients in group two received the same injection but in the subacromial space, and the 39 patients in group three received the same injection, but half the amount was injected into the glenohumeral joint and the other half was injected into the subacromial space.
Pain intensity was measured with a VAS before surgery, and assessments were repeated at 1, 2, 6, 12 and 24 hours postoperatively. The researchers recorded the total of rescue analgesic doses used between each time point.
Results showed groups were not significantly different with regard to patient age, sex or the tear size of the rotator cuff. Additionally, no significantly different VAS pain scores were observed between the groups at any of the time points studied.
All three groups overall demonstrated a similar pattern in rescue analgesic consumption, with no significant differences observed between groups at any time point, according to the researchers. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.