Introduction:

Complications in the recent postoperative period of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction are common. Among them, pain, hemarthrosis, and difficulty of complete range of motion. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of the intra-articular carboxymethylcellulose – polysaccharide B bicomponent shortly after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and to compare the results obtained for pain control, hemarthrosis, and knee range of motion with a control group.

Materials and methods:

randomized, and prospective clinical trial of thirty-two patients divided into two groups: reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament with an intra-articular injection of a bicomponent carboxymethylcellulose-polysaccharide B (n = 16) and without the bicomponent (n = 16). Pain, hemarthrosis and knee range of motion were evaluated in the first postoperative week.

Results:

the group with bicomponent presented less pain on the third (p = 0.017) and fifth (p = 0.029) postoperative day when compared to the control group. Hemarthrosis was significantly lower on the first postoperative day (p = 0.001), and there was a significant improvement in the range of motion on the seventh day of surgery (p = 0.008) in this same group.

Conclusions:

the use of intra-articular carboxymethylcellulose-polysaccharide B showed superior results for pain control, hemarthrosis, and gain in the knee range of motion in the recent postoperative period (up to seven days) after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, when compared to patients from the control group