Pain control is an important postoperative consideration with any
surgical procedure. Technological and procedural improvements have contributed to the reduction in both the degree of surgical difficulty and the postsurgical complications associated with intricate surgeries. As a result, certain surgeries have potential for being performed on an outpatient basis, dependent upon appropriate
pain-management regimens and the degree of potential for postoperative complications. Arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a common procedure. Because of the reduction in invasiveness that arthroscopy provides,
outpatient surgery is now routinely employed for ACL patients. The arguments against ACL
outpatient surgery have included the reluctance to use ambulatory, indwelling, intravenous
pain-pump delivery systems for
opioid pain medication. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a
ketorolac tromethamine used for the management of the
postoperative pain produced as a result of outpatient ACL reconstruction. When the
ketorolac pain management regimen is compared in this setting with
meperidine or
morphine,
pain control is as good as, or in some cases better than, either of the
opioid drugs. Additionally, the adverse side effects associated with
opioid drugs are significantly reduced at a substantially lower direct cost to the patient.