Intraarticular vs. extraarticular ropivacaine infusion following high-dose local infiltration analgesia after total knee arthroplasty

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of the study.

Demographic and intraoperative data on patients

	Group I (n=16)	Group E (n=17)	p-value
Age, years	70 (64–76) ^a	64 (55–73)	0.2
Sex (M/F)	6/10	3/14	0.2
ASA physical status (II/III)	15/1	17/0	0.5
Length, cm	177 (170–184)	174 (163–184)	0.7
Weigh, kg	74 (60–89)	83 (71–95)	0.3
Duration of operation, min	89 (75–104)	92 (65–119)	0.7
Intraoperative dose of propofol, mg	188 (156–220)	179 (139–219)	0.4
Time to the first morphine request, min	436 (274–618)	449 (235–663)	0.9

^a Values with parentheses are mean (95% CI)

Group I: intraarticular infusion of ropivacaine; group E: extraarticular infusion of ropivacaine;

ASA physical status II: mild systemic disease; ASA physical status III: severe systemic disease.

Figure 2. Cumulative postoperative morphine (mg; mean ± 95% CI) during the first 48 postoperative hours after TKA. There were no significant differences between group I (intraarticular infusion of ropivacaine) and group E (extraarticular infusion of ropivacaine).

Figure 3. Mean postoperative visual analog pain score (VAS; mean ± 95% CI) assessed at rest and on passive movement at different times during the 48-h follow-up after TKA. No significant difference was recorded between groups.

Figure 4. Box plots showing intensity of pain during exercise estimated by physiotherapists according to Verbal Rating Score (0 = none, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = strong, 4 = intense, and 5 = unbearable) in group I (intraarticular infusion of ropivacaine) and group E (extraarticular infusion of ropivacaine). The boxes show the interquartile range, and the whiskers the minimum and maximum values.