Twenty-Five Percent of Patients Undergoing Knee Arthroscopy Use Psychotropic Medications.

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of psychotropic medication (PTM) usage in patients undergoing knee arthroscopy and to identify knee pathologies associated with the use of PTMs.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review was conducted. Subjects were identified using the billing database at a single institution. All eligible patients treated by 2 fellowship-trained orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons between 2017 and 2021 were analyzed; patients were included if they were at least 12 years old and had at least 6 months of documented follow-up. The following characteristics were gathered: age, sex, surgery laterality, ipsilateral knee surgery history, knee pathology, and use of PTMs if listed in patient charts within 6 months prior to surgery.

RESULTS

Records from 1,000 arthroscopic knee surgical procedures were examined (399 female and 601 male patients). From 2017 to 2021, 245 patients (24.5%) were prescribed at least 1 psychotropic drug. Female patients took PTM drugs at higher rates than male patients (odds ratio, 1.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.42-2.60; P < .001). An examination of drug classes revealed 106 antidepressant prescriptions (35.2%), 77 sedative hypnotics (25.6%), 38 stimulants (12.6%), 6 antipsychotics (2.0%), and 74 anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers (24.6%). Patients taking PTMs had lower adjusted odds of presenting with anterior cruciate ligament injury compared with their peers not taking PTMs (adjusted odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.82; P = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

The rate of PTM usage among patients undergoing knee arthroscopy was 24.5% based on 5 years of records from 1 institution. Female patients had a higher frequency of PTM use compared with their male counterparts.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: PTM use is common among knee arthroscopy patients, with higher rates observed in female patients.