Disclosures: Jennifer L. Hunnicutt, PhD, ATC: Nothing to disclose

Objective: To determine the effects of a cold and focal vibration unit (VibraCool) on post-operative pain levels and opioid usage following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). We hypothesized that in the immediate post-operative period VibraCool would reduce pain levels and decrease number of opioids taken, compared to an age- and gender-matched historical control group that received standard care.

Design: Nonrandomized trial with age- and gender-matched control group.

Setting: Orthopedic clinic and patient home .

Participants: 14 individuals (27±11 years, 9 males; 5 females) with primary ACLR received VibraCool on day of surgery.

Interventions: VibraCool is an FDA-cleared medical device that provides a combination of ice and focal vibration to treat pain. Its high-frequency (150Hz) vibration targets mechanoreceptors that inhibit pain via spinal gating mechanisms. Patients were instructed to use VibraCool for 20 mins 3×/day on the knee proximal to pain locations. All patients, including control group, received standard of care: adductor canal nerve block and 30 tablets of Percocet 7.5/325mg.

Main Outcome Measures: Pain via 11-point visual analog scale and total number opioid tablets used were tracked on Smartphone application developed in-house (Fuse: Postop Journal). Differences between groups were tested with independent t-tests assuming unequal variance.

Results: Patients receiving VibraCool demonstrated similar pain levels 1-week post-surgery (2.3±2.2 vs. 2.8±1.3; P=.591) and total number opioids used (10.1±10.3 vs. 8.9±5.4, P=.705) compared to control group. Only four patients given VibraCool continued to use opioids by their first post-operative visit (4±2 days post-surgery).

Conclusions: VibraCool did not demonstrate statistically significant reductions in pain and opioid usage within this small sample size. However, this neuromodulatory device shows potential as an alternative and/or adjunctive therapy to opioid usage. Future work will include a randomized controlled trial to substantiate findings of this pilot study using a larger sample size and longer time post-surgery.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/effects-of-focal-vibration-on-pain-and-opioid-usage-following-anterior-cruciate-ligament-reconstruction-a-pilot-study/