Adductor canal block is superior to intravenous analgesia for multimodal postoperative pain management in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Background & objectives: Postoperative pain after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a source of psychological and physiological consequences, and it might be a precursor of chronic pain. We compared the effects of intravenous analgesia technique and the adductor canal block as multimodal pain management after ACL reconstruction. Methodology: A prospective, comparative study was conducted at Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang, Indonesia. A total of 30 patients undergoing ACL reconstruction were randomly divided into two groups; Group IV received intravenous analgesia (n = 15), and Group ACB received adductor canal block (n = 15). The numerical rating scale (NRS), the length of hospital stay, and the use of rescue analgesic dose were measured until the third postoperative day. Data were analyzed using the independent T-test using SPSS 18.0. Results: The NRS-rest and NRS-movement of the ACB group were significantly lower than in Group IV (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay and the need for rescue analgesia in both groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The adductor canal block technique is better used as multimodal pain management than intravenous analgesia for postoperative pain after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction under spinal anesthesia with lower numerical rating scale scores at-rest and on-movement.