Nonopioid Analgesia After Arthroscopic Meniscus Surgery

Study Design: This is a randomized, single blinded, standard of care-controlled clinical trial. All adult patients over eighteen desiring arthroscopic meniscus surgery will be eligible. Nonnarcotic postoperative pain control regimen described below were chosen based on previous studies in fracture care and joint arthroplasty. Patients will be consented and recruited. Once participation has been determined and consent obtained, the names of participating patients will be provided to the research pharmacy. Patients will be randomized with a computer-generated table in 2 patient blocks by the research pharmacy. Patients postoperative analgesia will be divided into one of the following 2 treatment arms: 1) A novel nonopioid pain protocol or 2) traditional narcotic pain analgesia Primary endpoints is reduction in pain as measured by Visual Analog Score and Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Informatics Systems. The endpoints will be collected at each post-operative day using a journal. Moreover, endpoints will be collected at the patient's first post-operative appointment. These appointments are scheduled within one-week of the index procedure. Statistical Analysis: All continuous data will be analyzed using independent 2-group t tests and reported as means ± standard deviations. Categorical data will be compared between the 2 groups using chi-square tests and reported as counts and percentages. A preliminary test to confirm the quality of variances will be conducted prior to utilizing the t test to confirm the appropriate statistical analysis. Nonparametric equivalents Wilcoxon rank-sum and Fisher exact tests will be used as needed for nonnormal distributions and low variable numbers, respectively. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to assess for potential confounding demographic variables.