Perioperative Pain Management and Anesthesia: A Critical Component to Rapid Recovery Total Joint Arthroplasty.

Abstract

Multimodal pain management has become the standard of care following total hip and knee replacement. The advantages include decreasing opioid consumption and its associated side effects, facilitating earlier mobilization, and faster return to function. An effective rapid recovery protocol includes the use of multiple different types of medications targeting each area of the pain pathway, preemptive analgesia, regional nerve blockade, and local infiltration analgesia.