The efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine compared with traditional peri-articular injection for pain control following total knee arthroplasty: an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background

The efficacy of postoperative pain management is an important factor that influences the final outcome of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Whether liposomal bupivacaine offers better efficacy compared with traditional peri-articular injection after TKA remains inconclusive. We conduct this study to compare the true efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine (LB) with traditional peri-articular injection (TPAI) following TKA.

Materials and methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Web of Science were searched. Thirteen RCTs involving 1373 patients were finally included in our meta-analysis (LB = 691, TPAI = 682). The continuous and dichotomous outcome were collected in a standard form, and the data were analysed by using Review Manager 5.3 software. Finally, the results were presented in the forest plots.

Result

The pooled data demonstrated that the postoperative visual analogue score (VAS) in the LB group was not significantly different compared with that in the TPAI group at every time period after TKA. The liposomal bupivacaine group had significantly lower consumption of morphine equivalents 24 to 72 h postoperatively and reduced incidence of nausea and vomiting after TKA compared with the TPAI group. Finally, the length of hospital stay in the two groups was not significantly different.

Conclusion

Liposomal bupivacaine did not yield different results on the visual analogue scale compared with traditional peri-articular injection after total knee arthroplasty. However, liposomal bupivacaine was preferred in terms of lower consumption of morphine equivalents 24–72 h postoperatively and lower incidence of nausea and vomiting after total knee arthroplasty.