Comparison Of Epidural Analgesia Vs Intraoperative Peri-Articular Injection For Pain Management Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

Objective: To compare epidural analgesia vs intraoperative peri-articular injection for pain management following Total Knee Arthroplasty. Method: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 54 patients undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty and divided into two groups equally, group A received epidural analgesia while group B received peri-articular injection. Postoperative pain on VAS score after six hours and 24 hours and side effects on the first postoperative day were assessed between both groups. Independent samples T-test was used for comparison of variables keeping P value significant at 0.05. Results: The mean age of the patients recorded was 58.85±5.93 years. Male were 46.3% while female patients were 53.7%. Postoperative pain assessed on VAS after 6 and 24 hours was significantly lower in group B (peri-articular injection) as compared to group A (epidural analgesia) (P = 0.009). The frequency of nausea and vomiting was significantly lower in group B (peri-articular injection) than in group A (epidural analgesia) (P = 0.004, P = 0.005). Conclusion: Based on the findings of our study, we conclude that the utilization of intraoperative peri-articular injection for management of pain following Total Knee Arthroplasty yielded a significantly lower incidence of postoperative pain, as well as reduced occurrences of nausea and vomiting when compared to the use of epidural analgesia.