Analgesic effect of a single dose of betamethasone after ambulatory knee arthroscopy: a randomized controlled trial.
PURPOSE
Glucocorticoids are reported to improve postoperative analgesia. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether a preoperative, single dose of betamethasone could reduce pain after ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery.


METHODS
This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including patients scheduled for knee arthroscopy. The intervention was an intravenous injection of betamethasone 8 mg or placebo. The primary outcome was pain day 1 evaluated by a verbal descriptor scale (VDS).


RESULTS
In total, 74 patients (betamethasone = 34; placebo = 40) were randomized. One patient in each group was excluded from analysis. During activity day 1 following surgery, the proportion with no or minor pain was significantly (p = 0.030) higher in the betamethasone group (22 of 33; 67 %) compared with the placebo group (17 of 39; 44 %). At rest, the corresponding figures were 26 of 33 (79 %) for betamethasone and 24 of 39 (62 %) for placebo (p = 0.062). After 3 months of follow-up, no patient receiving betamethasone experienced adverse events while six receiving placebo did (postoperative nausea and vomiting in five and delayed wound healing in one).


CONCLUSIONS
An analgesic benefit was seen day 1 following surgery. This indicates that betamethasone has a place in ambulatory arthroscopic knee surgery.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ (identifier 2009-014717-27).
['Segelman|Jerker|J|0000-0002-5098-6977', 'Pettersson|Hans Järnbert|HJ|', 'Svensén|Christer|C|', 'Divander|Mona-Britt|MB|', 'Barenius|Björn|B|', 'Segelman|Josefin|J|']
D000328:Adult D000700:Analgesics D001182:Arthroscopy D001623:Betamethasone D004311:Double-Blind Method D005260:Female D005938:Glucocorticoids D006801:Humans D007719:Knee Joint D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010147:Pain Measurement D010149:Pain, Postoperative D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
Betamethasone Arthroscopy Randomized controlled trial Pain