Respiratory depression after intraoperative opioid-containing periarticular multimodal drug injection for total hip and total knee arthroplasty

To the Editor, Recently, opioid-containing periarticular multimodal drug injection (PMDI) has become a common practice for pain management after artificial joint replacement surgery [1,2]. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of postoperative respiratory depression (RD) by examining respiratory rate (RR) and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) in the patients who received opioid-containing PMDI. Careful postoperative respiratory monitoring is essential for early detection and treatment, and further prospective studies including larger populations are needed in order to elucidate affecting factors for RD.Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.