Journal of Anesthesiology and Pain

Aim and background: Our goal to perform this study was to evaluate the effect of adding lidocaine to the irrigation solution during knee arthroscopy on decreasing patient's degree of pain.

 Methods and materials: This was a randomized double blind study, in which 41 patients were enrolled in each group. In the control group, the irrigation solution in arthroscopy was just normal saline without any adjuvant. However in our cases, the solution contained 0.5 mg per ml lidocaine. The patients were compared according to their degree of pain and opioid request in the ward up to 6 hours thereafter. Findings: The visual analogue pain scale showed that the score of pain was significantly decreased in the case group in comparison with the control one. Moreover, the patients in the case group had significantly less request for opioids after arthroscopy.

Conclusions: Adding lidocaine to the irrigation solution in knee arthroscopy could be an effective method to lower the degree of pain in patients.