Patient Satisfaction With Nonopioid Pain Management Following Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy and/or Chondroplasty

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of nonopioid pain medication related to patient satisfaction with postoperative pain and identify potential risk factors for decreased patient satisfaction with nonopioid pain medications. Methods: This was a prospective study conducted between January 2017 and April 2018 at a single institution. A power analysis was performed a priori, which determined an appropriate cohort size of 163 patients. Inclusion criteria were all patients older than age 18 who were undergoing a knee arthroscopy for a partial meniscectomy and/or chondroplasty. Patients were prescribed maximum-strength ibuprofen or acetaminophen and completed a preoperative and 2-week postoperative questionnaire to assess satisfaction with pain management. Results: Among the 163 patients enrolled in the study, the average age was 48.7 years (range 21-73 years); 74 (45%) were male and 89 (55%) were female. Overall, 81.6% (95% confidence interval 75.7% to 87.5%, P < .001) of patients reported satisfactory postoperative pain control without the use of opioids. Patients with a history of opioid use were found to be less likely to report adequate satisfaction with pain control than were patients who had no prior history of opioid use (relative risk 0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.38-1.12, P = .031). Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, 82% of patients who undergo arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and/or chondroplasty can achieve satisfactory pain control with nonopioid pain management.