In knee osteoarthritis people scheduled for total knee arthroplasty, meloxicam shows a good effect on alleviating postsurgery pain and enhancing patient satisfaction. However, it does not influence the safety profile, tolerance and long-term knee function recovery in such people.

Feng Hu et al. undertook this randomized, controlled, double-blind study to examine the postsurgery pain-relieving effect and tolerance of meloxicam in 128 knee osteoarthritis people undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Participants were randomly allocated to either meloxicam group (n = 65) or control group (n = 63).

The recruited people were given meloxicam or placebo from 4 hours to 72 hours following total knee arthroplasty and were followed up at 6 and 12 hours; days 1, 2, 3, 7; and months 1 and 3.

When compared to the control group, the meloxicam group exhibited reduced pain visual analog scale (VAS) score at rest at 12 hours, days 1, 3; reduced pain VAS score at flexion at 6 and 12 hours, days 1, 2, 3 (Figure 1); and higher patient satisfaction score on days 1,2,3.

In comparison with the control group,  the meloxicam group illustrated attenuation of total and  additional consumption of patient-controlled analgesia.

Regarding knee function recovery (evaluated by the hospital for special surgery knee score [HSS]), no difference at month 1 or  month 3 was noted between the study groups. Furthermore, the occurrence of noxious events was comparable between the two groups. Thus, meloxicam has a remarkable potential for postoperative management of pain in people with knee osteoarthritis receiving knee arthroplasty.