Optimization of a Fast-track Concept for Knee Joint Replacement (KneeOptOut2)

Optimization of a Fast-track Concept for Knee Replacement: A Single-blind, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial

In an estimated 150,000 patients, a knee joint replacement is performed in Germany every year. The perioperative care of the patients aims at an optimal surgical technique, which leads to a high functionality in the joint, and above all at an adequate pain treatment. Patients experience pain especially intraoperatively and in the first days after the operation. The intensity of pain is a decisive factor that can hinder the patient's mobilization. In the KneeOptOut study (ethics application number EA4/009/17), which has already been successfully carried out and approved by this ethics committee, it was shown that the use of local infiltration anaesthesia (LIA) for pain therapy after primary knee endoprosthetics is comparable to catheter-supported regional anaesthesia (manuscript under review at the European Journal of Anaesthesiology). During surgery, the morphine requirement of patients in the LIA group was significantly higher than that of patients who underwent catheterization. Postoperatively, however, both subjective pain by VAS and opiate consumption were comparable. In order to optimize the intraoperative opiate need/consumption, an early-intraoperative procedure for local infiltration anesthesia will now be compared with the previous late-intraoperative procedure. Both procedures correspond to SOP for the treatment of primary knee endoprostheses and are currently used depending on the surgeon's requirements.

Investigator and treating physicians are different in this trial, that means, the assessor of primary study endpoint will be blinded regarding group allocation. Patients receive either early or late local infiltration technique perioperatively. Patients will be blinded against early or late local infiltration technique. Blinding of the treating physician will not be possible.

A distal regional anaesthesia is performed in which the nerves are blocked by a local anaesthetic in the tissue in the immediate vicinity of the operating area ("tissue infiltration technique"). The LIA is applied in a total of 4 steps during the preparation of the knee joint: 1. after the skin incision, 2. after the capsule incision, 3. after complete exposure of the knee joint, 4. when the posterior knee capsule is reached.

A distal regional anaesthesia is performed in which the nerves are blocked by a local anaesthetic in the tissue in the immediate vicinity of the operating area ("tissue infiltration technique"). The LIA is applied after the preparation of the femur and tibia bone shortly before the prosthesis is inserted and during the retreat from the knee joint.

Patient receive an infiltration of local anaesthetics around the knee directly after total knee replacement for postoperative pain control.

The local infiltration analgesia is applied in a total of 4 steps during the preparation of the knee joint: 1. after the skin incision, 2. after the capsule incision, 3. after complete exposure of the knee joint, 4. when the posterior knee capsule is reached.

satisfaction of surgeon in points of clarity of the operative field, change of the operative field by LIA and overall satisfaction represented in one value

Inclusion Criteria: • patients undergoing elective, primary knee joint replacement in combined general anaesthesia Exclusion Criteria: heart insufficiency NYHA >2 liver insufficiency > CHILD B evidence of diabetic polyneuropathy severe adipositas BMI >40 patients < 18 years pregnancy in case of police custody participation in a paralleled interventional RCT in a time frame of 30 days chronic opioid therapy >3 months before scheduled surgery allergy against medication required for surgery or anaesthesia

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