Effect of intraoperative cold solution irrigation to reduce postoperative pain in knee osteoarthritis patients who underwent unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the postoperative pain score, opioid consumption, and blood loss in knee osteoarthritis patients who underwent unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty with and without intraoperative cold solution irrigation. Method: In total, 70 knee osteoarthritis patients were randomly included in the study and allocated into 2 groups. The first group was irrigated intraoperatively with a cold solution and the second group was irrigated intraoperatively with a room-temperature solution. Results: The cold solution group showed significantly lower pain scores (numerical rating scale, NRS) at 28 h postoperatively (p = 0.047). There were no significant differences in opioid consumption or blood loss between the groups. Conclusions: Intraoperative cold solution irrigation in unilateral primary total knee arthroplasty patients may provide the benefit of early postoperative pain reduction for up to 28 h but has no effect in terms of reducing opioid consumption or blood loss. Trial registration: The trial was registered in the Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR) Trial registration number ID: TCTR20200706001 on 06/07/2020.