Alireza Yavarikia, Gholamreza Ghorbaniamjad, Khashayar Davoudpour.
The influence of tourniquet use and timing of its release on blood loss after total knee arthroplasty.
J Surg Pak Jan ;14(4):149-52.

Objective: To determine the influence of tourniquet use and the timing of its release on amount of bleeding during total knee arthroplasty. Study design: Clinical trial. Place & duration of study: Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Hamadam , Iran From 2005 to 2008. Patients and Methods: Eighty four patients (96 knees) who underwent total knee arthroplasty were randomly assigned into three groups: group I: tourniquet not applied, group II: the tourniquet deflated intraoperatively, group III: the tourniquet released after the wound closure. Mean blood drainage and transfusions required, hemoglobin and hematocrit values and operation time were compared among the groups. Results: Hemoglobin and hematocrit, tourniquet time (for groups II and III) and number of blood transfusions given, were similar in all the groups. The operation time was significantly long for group I (p 0.012). Conclusion: Using tourniquet does not reduce blood loss in total knee asrthroplasty however it reduces operation time significantly.

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