A Randomised control trial on effect of Local infiltration anaesthetic (LIA) versus LIA + 48 hours infusion of local anaesthetic postoperatively on opioid consumption after anterior approach total hip replacement

We conducted a study to see if adding a pain pump after a total hip replacement would help patients in reducing the amount of pain medication they consume, reduce pain levels, help reduce time to discharge from the hospital, and also reduce the use of laxative and anti-nausea medication. Our study recruited 108 participants with 54 patients in each group where one group had a pain pump and the other did not. We found the use of the pain pump after a total hip replacement interestingly did not help reduce pain medication usage or lower pain scores to a significant amount compared to patients who did not have a pump. Additionally, there was also no appreciable difference in the amount of laxatives and anti-nausea medication used between the group of patients. In patients who had a pain pump, no adverse events or infection were caused by the pump. Our study has therefore shown a pain pump does not need to be used after a total hip replacement done by the anterior approach as it provides little to no benefit.