2 Knees in 1 Day – Blood-Loss & Transfusion

Bleeding is always to be expected in surgery. Improved surgical techniques and use of anti-bleeding medications substantially reduce the extent of bleeding during and after TKA. In fact, it is unusual for a patient to need a blood transfusion after replacement of one knee.

When two knees are replaced in one day (“bilateral TKA”) the total amount of blood lost from the two knees often drops the patient’s hemoglobin level below the “red-line” which triggers blood transfusion. Cutting down intra-operative blood loss by as little as 100-150 cc per operated knee can readily keep the hemoglobin above the “red-line” thereby avoiding the need for transfusion.

Two clinical studies compared blood loss with a pneumatic tourniquet to blood loss when HemaClear® is used.

• In one study of ____ patients, it was found that using HemaClear® significantly reduced intra-operative blood loss from ___ with a pneumatic tourniquet to ____ cc with HemaClear® when a single TKA was done. Blood transfusion was not needed in both groups.
• The other study was done in more than 500 bilateral TKA patients, about half treated with a pneumatic tourniquet and the others with HemaClear®.
• The difference between the groups was very large with an average of 3 units of blood given to the pneumatic tourniquet patients and only 1 unit given to the HemaClear® – treated patients.