Evaluation of Arthroscopic Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament by One Night Hospital Stay or by Day Surgery: a Randomised, Prospective Clinical Trial
Evaluation of Arthroscopic Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament by One Night Hospital Stay or by Day Surgery: a Randomised, Prospective Clinical Trial
Patients who suffered from a rupture of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament with instability of
 the knee joint, will be treated with an operative ACL-reconstruction. One group of patients
 will stay one night in the hospital and go home the other day (Group I). The other group of
 patients will go home the same day of surgery (Group II). All patients will undergo the same
 arthroscopic reconstruction of the ACL. Anesthesia will be performed on each patient in a
 classic manner. At the end of the surgery each group of patients will be randomly divided in
 two subgroups: one group will get an injection in the knee joint with 20 ml of physiological
 fluid (Group Ia en IIa), the other group will get an injection in the knee joint with 20 ml
 of chirocaine 0.125%, a widely used pain-medicine (Group Ib and IIb). This will happen in a
 double blind, randomized way. The whole procedure takes about one hour. After surgery
 patients are brought to the recovery room and are observed every 30 minutes for the duration
 of 4 hours. Before being brought to their rooms, patients will have to fill in a VAS: Visual
 Analogue Scale, to determine their pain. After being brought to their rooms, the patients
 will have the choice of going home the same day or staying in the hospital for one night,
 according to the amount of pain they are in. That moment it will be possible to switch
 groups. Patients who go home the same day of surgery will be contacted by phone the day after
 to fill in a question form. Patients who were admitted for one night will be seen before
 their leave to fill in the same question form.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients who suffered from a isolated rupture of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament with
 instability of the knee joint will be included in the study.

 -  Patients with a meniscal tear that can be sutured will also be included. Partial
 meniscectomies are accepted.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients with chronic laxity (longer than 9 months), associated collateral laxity
 (grade III), subtotal or total meniscectomy, infection or inflammatory disease of the
 knee joint or large cartilage lesion will not be included in the study.