Effect of dexmedetomidine combined with local infiltration analgesia on postoperative wound complications in patients with total knee arthroplasty: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

Dexmedetomidine has been demonstrated to be effective in the management of pain in total knee replacement (TKA). Nevertheless, a combination of a local anaesthetic and a dose of dexmedetomidine might be a better choice for post‐operative pain management of TKA. The aim of this research is to determine if the combination of a local anaesthetic with dexmedetomidine during a knee replacement operation can decrease the post‐operation pain. Furthermore, the effectiveness and security of dexmedetomidine combined with topical anaesthetic were evaluated for the management of post‐operative TKA. Based on the research results, the author made a research on the basis of four big databases. The Cochrane Handbook on Intervention Systems Evaluation has also evaluated the quality of the literature. Seven randomized controlled trials have been established from this. It was found that the combination of local anaesthesia and dexmedetomidine had a greater effect on postoperative pain in 4 h (mean difference [MD], −0.9; 95% CI, −1.71, −0.09; p = 0.03), 8 h (MD, −0.52; 95% CI, −0.66, −0.38; p < 0.0001), 12 h (MD, −0.72; 95% CI, −1.04, −0.40; p < 0.0001), 24 h (MD, −0.49; 95% CI, −0.83, −0.14; p = 0.006), 48 h (MD, −0.51; 95% CI, −0.92, −0.11; p = 0.01). Nevertheless, because of the limited number of randomized controlled trials covered by this meta‐analysis, caution should be exercised with regard to data treatment. More high quality research will be required to confirm the results.