Abstract
Knee arthroplasty is a very painful procedure and the postoperative pain is hard to relieve. Different combinations of treatment have been tried. After a pilot study and literature search we tried to refine our treatment and improve the information to the patient. We then conducted a study of 50 patients with written information before coming to the hospital and verbal preoperative information on our treatment plan against postoperative pain. All patients were evaluated with VAS at least three times daily. The patient stayed in a postoperative ward the first night with epidural anesthesia in most cases. They were then transferred to the ward where the study was conducted. The goal was to treat the pain before it occurred. They should be able to perform knee exercise without pain, be able to bend 90° and walk the stairs before leave. In spite of extensive information, 10% could not recall any given information. We found that opioids given at regular frequent intervals together with NSAID gave good pain relief. We experienced problems with unrelieved pain when changing from epidural anesthesia to intramuscular analgesia and at knee training. All patients except one were satisfied with the pain treatment.