Patients undergoing total knee replacement will be assigned at random to receive one of two methods of postoperative pain management. Patients assigned to nerve block will receive regional anesthetic nerve block using an indwelling femoral nerve catheter and a single shot sciatic nerve block. Patients assigned to periarticular injection will receive periarticular local injection into the periarticular soft tissues at the time of knee replacement using a combination of ropivacaine, epinephrine, ketorolac, and morphine sulphate. Additionally, all patients will be given a standardized combination of oral analgesic medications preoperatively and postoperatively. All patients will receive a posterior stabilized total knee replacement through an medial parapatellar approach.
The purpose of this study is to compare two methods of postoperative pain management in patients undergoing total knee replacement.