Postoperative pain management after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Abstract

This study compared pain and its management in four groups of patients after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. Group 1 consisted of primary ACL reconstruction, group 2 primary ACL reconstruction with meniscal repair, group 3 primary ACL reconstruction with meniscal resection, and group 4 revision ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon allograft. Each patient was instructed to record his or her pain level on a visual analog pain scale (VAS) prior to the procedure and for 7 days postoperatively. All patients received a prescribed narcotic to be taken orally as needed every 4-6 hours. Each patient was instructed to taper its use and supplement with non-narcotic as symptoms allowed. The VAS score for all groups peaked at postoperative day 1 and remained elevated at postoperative day 2. At postoperative day 7, the VAS scores for groups 1, 2, and 3 began to show signs of further decline, whereas group 4 persisted at postoperative day 5 levels. A general trend of decreasing narcotic use over time and increasing non-narcotic use was noted in each group; however, these findings were not statistically significant. All four groups had nearly identical mean VAS scores and corresponding narcotic use for each postoperative day despite the differing levels of complexity of surgical intervention in each group.