Perioperative Intravenous Lidocaine Infusion on Postoperative Recovery in Patients Undergoing Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair Under General Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objective: Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) is known to cause severe postoperative pain that may interfere with recovery. Intravenous (IV) lidocaine has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antihyperalgesic effects, and is being used in various types of surgeries. However, the effect of IV lidocaine in ARCR is not well-known.

Materials and methods: Ninety patients undergoing ARCR were randomly allocated to receive IV lidocaine (1.5 mg/kg bolus of 1% lidocaine after anesthesia induction followed by a continuous infusion of 2 mg/kg/h up to 1 h after surgery) or an equal volume of saline. In both groups, an IV patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device was used that contained fentanyl 10 µg/mL, infused at 1 mL/h with a 1 mL bolus dose. The primary outcome was fentanyl requirements given via IV PCA during the first 24 hours after surgery. Perioperative pain scores and functional recovery were assessed as secondary outcomes.

Results: The amount of fentanyl administered via IV PCA up to 24 hours after surgery was significantly lower in the lidocaine group compared with the control group (329 [256.2 to 428.3] vs. 394.5 [287.0 to 473.0], P=0.037). The number of PCA bolus attempts were lower in the lidocaine group without statistical significance. There were no differences in postoperative pain scores or functional shoulder scores between the 2 groups.

Discussion: IV lidocaine appears to be helpful in reducing opioid requirements during the acute postoperative period in patients undergoing ARCR. IV lidocaine may be a viable option as a component of multimodal analgesia in ARCR when regional analgesia is not possible.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04061057.