Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction as an Outpatient Procedure

During a 27-month period, 222 patients with 227 ante rior cruciate ligament-deficient knees underwent arthro scopically assisted reconstructions as outpatient pro cedures. Bone-tendon-bone autografts were used for 169 of these reconstructions; the other 58 were done with bone-tendon-bone allografts. Additional proce dures were performed on 180 of the patients. The in terval from injury to reconstruction averaged 29 months. The protocol developed at our clinic employs a general anesthetic administered with the intent of same-day dis charge, infiltration of the skin and joint with bupivacaine, a cold compressive dressing, and the use of both ke torolac tromethamine and a Schedule III narcotic (ac etaminophen with codeine or with propoxyphene) for postoperative pain control. At an average followup of 10 months, no readmissions in the immediate postopera tive period had been required and no short- or long-term postoperative complications could be attributed to the protocol. This safe and effective technique offers the patient the advantage of anterior cruciate ligament re construction as a same-day procedure and allows the surgeon to implement its use in any outpatient setting without additional discharge planning.