Outpatient ACL reconstruction using intraoperative local analgesia and oral postoperative pain medication

Thirty-five consecutive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions were performed in an ambulatory surgical unit using a bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Patients were evaluated postoperatively to determine the amount of pain medication used, the readmission rate, postoperative complications, and cost. Outpatient ACL reconstruction led to a savings of $4700 compared with the cost of performing the same procedure in a hospital operating room with an overnight admission. This study demonstrates that outpatient ACL reconstruction, using local analgesia intraoperatively and oral narcotic pain medication postoperatively, is a safe and cost-effective procedure with minimal to no morbidity.