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IS FILLING THE FEMORAL ENTRANCE HOLE IN TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY WORTH AN EFFORT?



Abstract

Aim: We studied the effect of filling the femoral entrance hole in relation to the total blood loss during and after the procedure of Total knee arthroplasty in 72 patients performed between 1997 and 1999 performed in our unit.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective review and the patients were be broadly classified into three groups, the first (Group A) who had the entrance holes left unblocked (n= 21), the second (Group B) had the holes filled with bone cement (n= 21) and the third (Group C) with the holes filled with bone (n= 26).

Results: The average Blood loss for group A was 1019, group B was 11077 and group C was 1162. The Average Blood transfusion for group A was 0.70 units, group B was 0.40 units and group C was 0.30 units.

Conclusions: We found no significant difference in the Total Blood loss between the three groups and conclude that filling the entrance holes does not effectively reduce the Total Blood Loss in Total Knee arthroplasty and that there is no advantage to be gained in respect of the total transfusion needed for these patients.

The abstracts were prepared by Nico Verdonschot. Correspondence should be addressed to him at Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, University Medical Centre, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.