Pain Management Post Knee Arthroscopy for Isolated Meniscus Tears

Background: Little attention has been directed toward the measurement of outcomes of effective pain management post knee arthroscopy for isolated meniscus tears at the Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic Hypothesis: Identifiable patterns of correlation between perception of pain and the number of pain medications taken post knee arthroscopy for isolated meniscus tears. Study Design: Pilot Study Methods: Patients (N=9) undergoing knee arthroscopy for isolated meniscus tears were studied. Objective variables of pain management at follow-up included the number of narcotics and anti-inflammatories taken. Subjective variable of symptoms at follow-up included pain. Results: Over the first 7 postoperative days, averages were calculated on collected data. The response for the participants pain at its worst was 4.03/10 (SD 0.64), the results of the average pain at its best was a 2.03/10 (SD 0.56). The average intensity of pain for 7 days was 2.99/10 (SD 0.88) for which the participants encountered approximately 5.19 hours of pain a day (SD 1.71). A graphic representation of the average number of narcotics used per day (1.44 tablets, SD 1.39) and the average number of NSAIDs used per day (1.68 tablets, SD 0.39) were tabulated over the course of 7 days. Conclusion: The results suggest that the standard prescription for pain at the Orthopedic· and Fracture Clinic is adequate in controlling pain post knee arthroscopy. Further studies over a longer period and larger sample size is needed to assess the average amount of pain experienced post knee arthroscopy, and whether the standard prescription is adequate in pain management