Does tourniquet use decrease blood loss following primary total knee arthroplasty in Jehovah’s Witness patients?
Ali Levent1, Özkan Köse2, Philip Linke1, Thorsten Gehrke1, Mustafa Çıtak1
1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, ENDO-Klinik Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, University of Health Sciences, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey
Keywords: Blood loss, blood transfusion, Jehovah's Witness, total knee arthroplasty, tourniquet.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to investigate the use of multiple blood management strategies and the effect of tourniquet on the estimated blood loss (EBL) in Jehovah's Witness (JW) patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Patients and methods: Twenty-two self-reported JW patients (9 males, 13 females; mean age 66.8±8.6 years; range, 51 to 83 years) who underwent primary TKA between January 2014 and January 2020 in our institution were retrospectively reviewed. A standard blood management protocol that consisted of hypotensive anesthesia, local and systemic administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) and intraoperative cell salvage was applied to all patients. Patients were divided into two groups: with (n=11) and without (n=11) tourniquet use. The EBL was calculated according to Meunier’s formula. Hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (Hct), and EBL on the first and third postoperative days were compared statistically.
Results: There was no significant difference between groups regarding postoperative Hgb (p=0.801 and p=0.767), Hct (p=0.617 and p=0.895), Hgb decline (p=0.311 and p=0.822), and EBL (p=0.067 and p=0.284) at first and third postoperative days. None of the patients required blood transfusion. No wound complication or symptomatic deep vein thrombosis was seen during the hospital stay.
Conclusion: Combined use of hypotensive anesthesia, intravenous administration of TXA, intraoperative periarticular injection, and cell salvage seem to be sufficient in controlling the blood loss in JW patients during TKA. Additional tourniquet use may not further decrease the EBL.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.