Vidcast: https://youtu.be/JpIQ9t6phAw

In an effort to comfort patients after total knee replacement, orthopedic surgeons at Louisiana State University have developed a creative mixture of procedures and medications that work for more than 70% of patients.

They studied 144 patients using their protocol for surgery. It begins with a long-lasting cryo nerve block initiated 5 days before surgery. This nerve block is effected by the introduction of a unique needle through which cold gas is introduced to produce a micro ice ball at its tip that freezes and inactivates nerves that serve the knee. Then just before the knee surgery, the patient receives doses of the oral analgesic pregabalin, branded as Lyrica, the oral NSAID celecoxib, branded as Celebrex, and a whopping IV dose of acetaminophen or Tylenol. On discharge, the patient takes acetaminophen 4 times a day for 2 weeks and the NSAID diclofenac twice a day for 6 weeks as rehab begins.

More than half of all patients including those who had used narcotics in the past recovered without needing any rescue doses of narcotics. A full 72% of those who had never taken narcotics in the past didn’t need them for their knee surgery.

https://jeo-esska.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40634-023-00585-0

#orthopedics #totalknee #narcotics #nerveblock #nsaids #acetaminophen

orthopedics, totalknee, narcotics, nerveblock, nsaids, acetaminophen