Study on the effects of ropivacaine for pain control via femoral nerve catheter after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction patients

Objective To evaluate the effects of pain control achieved with local anesthetic ropivacaine injection or infusion via a femoral nerve catheter in ligament reconstruction patients. Methods Sixty ASA Ⅰ~Ⅱsubjects scheduled to undergo arthroscopically aided anterior ligament reconstruction were randomly allocated to three groups,each group including 20 patients. The first group (RI ) received 0.2% ropivacaine 20 mL administered every 6 hours through;patients in the second group(RC) were given a continuous infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine through,at 5 mL.h-1; while the other twenty patients ( group RS) received analgesia with 0.2% ropivacaine and 0.2 μg.mL-1 sufentanil mixture continuous infusion through a femoral catheter,at 5 mL.h-1.Results The VAS scores of groups RC and RS were significantly higher than group RI at 8,12,16,24,36 h postoperatively,oral analgesics requirement was still higher in group RI throughout the postoperative observation.The VAS scores were similar between group RC and RS. There was no difference among three groups when compared VAS scores at 0,4,48 h and 60 h after the operation. No obvious adverse effects were found in all groups.Conclusion It was conclude that continuous infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine via femoral nerve catheter can provide excellent postoperative pain control after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction,addition of sufenltanil can not improve the analgesic effect.