Introduction:

The anesthetic technique of choice for arthroscopy is determined by the intraoperative surgical requirements and aims to optimize recovery, postoperative pain control and facilitate early discharge.

Objective:

To evaluate the results of intra-articular regional block with local anesthetics in arthroscopic knee surgery.

Material and methods:

An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the results of the intra-articular regional block with local anesthetics in arthroscopic knee surgery at the «Hermanos Ameijeiras» Clinical Surgical Hospital, in the period between February 2013 and February 2016. The study included a total of 120 patients, distributed in two groups of 60 each. Group AS: subarachnoid anesthesia and Group AI: intra-articular regional block with local anesthetics.

Results:

The most frequent age group was between 60-69 years, 28.3% in group SA and 35.0% in group IA, without significant differences (p = 0.683). Female sex predominated over male (42/18 vs 44/16), without significant differences (p = 0.839). ASA I predominated, in 56.7% and 43.3%, according to anesthetic technique, without significant differences (p = 0.092). The right knee predominated over the left. The most frequent nosological entity was the escrow present in 58.3% of the AS group and 60% in the group IA (p = 0.408). Osteoarthritis of the knee, according to groups, was presented in 46.7% in the AS group and 50.0% in the AI group. Postoperative pain was present in 21.7% of the AS group and 10% in the Group IA. There were significant differences between groups (p = 0.0114). Complications according to groups occurred in twice as many patients in the AS group (30.0%) as in group IA (15.0%) with significant differences (p = 0.049).

Conclusions:

The results of intra-articular regional block with local anesthetics in arthroscopic knee surgery is an anesthetic technique that is easy to perform and provides patient safety.