Description
Introduction: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a prevalent injury among athletes, often resulting in moderate to severe post-surgical pain. While multimodal cocktail drug (MCD) peri-articular injections are commonly used in total knee arthroplasty, there is limited research on their effectiveness in ACL reconstruction. Aim:This study aimed to investigate the short-term pain control effects, measured using Numeric Rating Scale(NRS) pain scores, of MCD-articular and peri-hamstring injections following ACL reconstruction.
Method: A total of 40 patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the MCD group, which received peri-articular hamstring injection with Bupivacaine, Ketorolac, and Adrenaline, and the Control group, which received no injection. NRS pain scores for both resting and movement-related knee and hamstring, which was also measured through posteromedial thigh pain were compared between the two groups for up to 6 weeks post-surgery. Additionally, morphine consumption, knee range of motion (ROM), and functional scores were assessed at 6 weeks after the operation.
Result: The MCD group exhibited significantly lower NRS pain scores compared to the Control group at 6 and 12 hours post-surgery, both clinically and statistically (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the MCD group demonstrated lower morphine consumption compared to the Control group. There were no significant differences in knee ROM and functional scores between the two groups.
Conclusion: Peri-articular hamstring MCD injection can effectively reduce short-term postoperative pain and morphine consumption following arthroscopic ACL reconstruction with a hamstring graft.
