Risk Factors for Postoperative Pain After Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

At present, multimodal analgesia is a successful mainstay treatment for arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament surgery which range from opioid, paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs), local anesthetic agents, ketamine, corticosteroid, and cold compression therapy. Previous study showed femoral nerve block reduces pain score but also increases incidence of falling. Afterward, a study on adductor canal block showed equivalent postoperative analgesia while preserving quadriceps strength. Furthermore, a few studies were conducted to determine risk factors for postoperative pain after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament surgery, but results are contradictory. Previous research found risk factors for postoperative pain after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament surgery are female, young age, smoker, preoperative visual analog scale score ≥3, tourniquet time > 50 minutes, and cartilage injury. In addition, evidence showed higher preoperative visual analog scale, and previous opioid use are associated with greater amount of opioid consumption. In contrary, some evidence showed no effect of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), tourniquet time, type of anesthesia on post postoperative pain after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament surgery.