Prolonged effects of dexamethasone following total knee arthroplasty: A pre‐planned sub‐study of the DEX‐2‐total knee arthroplasty (TKA) trial
Authors' conclusion
We found that neither one nor two doses of 24 mg intravenous dexamethasone demonstrated prolonged effects on overall pain or sleep quality on postoperative days 3-7 after total knee arthroplasty. We also found that dexamethasone had no effect on patient satisfaction.
Study context
- Population
- Adults after total knee arthroplasty, five Danish hospitals434 analysed
- Participants
- 485 adults
- Comparison
- Dexamethasone 24 mg IV one dose or two doses vs placebo
- Primary endpoint
- Average of all numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores (morning, bedtime, daily average)
- Follow-up
- POD 3-7
Methodological detailsprospective, pre-planned sub-study, questionnaire follow-up, multicentre, placebo-controlled
- Prospective
- Pre-planned sub-study
- Questionnaire follow-up
- Multicentre
- Placebo-controlled
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
DX2
3.2
median · IQR 2.1–4.3
DX1
3.3
median · IQR 2.3–4.1
Placebo
3.3
median · IQR 2.5–4.7
Hodges-Lehmann median difference (95% CI)P value
DX1 vs DX2
0.1(−0.47 to 0.33)
P = 0.87DX2 vs Placebo
0.1(−0.6 to 0.13)
P = 0.20- DX1 vs Placebo
- Hodges-Lehmann median difference 0 (95% CI - 0.54 to 0.2); P = 0.38
Secondary outcomes
Sleep quality · POD 3-7
- No relevant differences between groups
Patient satisfaction with analgesic treatment
- No relevant differences between groups
Original publication
Prolonged effects of dexamethasone following total knee arthroplasty: A pre‐planned sub‐study of the DEX‐2‐TKA trial. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. Published 14 September 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →