comparing the efficacy of intra-articular application of morphine and tramadol on postoperative pain after arthroscopic knee surgery

background intra-articular analgesia is a pain reliever that is frequently administered following arthroscopic knee surgery. objectives the purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of intra-articular applicationrnof morphine and tramadol on postoperative pain after arthroscopic knee surgery patients and methods for this randomized double blinded clinical trial, 132 patientsrnundergoing minor arthroscopic knee surgery were randomly assigned to receive either;rn5 mg morphine or 50 mg tramadol intra-articularly. pain was evaluated by means of thernverbal pain rating score (vrs) preoperatively (at rest and on movement of the knee joint)rnand postoperatively at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours. meanwhile, the time of the first analgesicrnrequest and need for supplemental analgesic were also recorded. results there was no statistically significant difference in vrs scoring between the tworngroups during the preoperative period either at rest or on knee movement. meanwhile,rnvrs scores did not differ significantly between the morphine and tramadol treatedrngroups postoperatively, except for in the one-hour post-operative scores in which therntramadol-treated group experienced less pain (p < 0.007). post-operative vrs scores atrn6, 12, and 24 hours were significantly decreased when compared with previous scores inrnboth morphine and tramadol prescribed subjects (p < 0.001), hence, both local analgesicsrncan significantly reduce pain after minor knee surgery. conclusions we have found a postoperative analgesic effect of intra-articularly administeredrnmorphine and tramadol following minor arthroscopic knee surgeries with arnmaximum effect 6 hours post injection.