Efficacy of intraarticular application of ketamine or ketamine–levobupivacaine combination on post-operative pain after arthroscopic meniscectomy

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of intraarticular injection of ketamine or ketamine plus levobupivacaine on post-operative analgesia in patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscectomy. Methods A prospective, randomized, double-blind study was performed on 60 patients aged 18–65 years who planned to undergo elective arthroscopic meniscectomy. The patients were divided into three groups: the ketamine group ( n = 20) received 1.0 mg/kg of intraarticular ketamine in 20 ml of normal saline, the ketamine–levobupivacaine group ( n = 20) received 0.5 mg/kg of intraarticular ketamine plus 50.0 mg of 0.25 % levobupivacaine in 20 ml of normal saline, and the control group ( n = 20) received 20 ml of intraarticular normal saline. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to determine the efficacy of analgesia at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h post-operatively. Results There were statistically significant differences in the median VAS scores among the three groups according to Bonferroni adjustment at all time points ( p