Perioperative blood management for total hip/knee arthroplasty

Abstract

To review the perioperative blood management (PBM) of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA). Recent researches on PBM for TKA and THA were comprehensively read and summarized. Then the advantages and disadvantages of various measures together with the clinical experience of West China Hospital of Sichuan University were evaluated from three aspects, including optimizing hematopoiesis, reducing blood loss and blood transfusion, which could provide a basis for clinical selection. There are many PBM methods in TKA and THA, among which the optimization of hematopoiesis mainly includes the application of perioperative iron and erythropoietin. Measures to reduce bleeding include the use of tourniquet, intraoperative controlled hypotension, and perioperative antifibrinolytic agents. Autologous blood transfusion includes preoperative autologous blood donation, hemodilution and cell salvage. Allogeneic blood transfusion is the ultimate treatment for anemia. The application of erythropoietin combined with iron therapy for blood mobilization before surgery together with intraoperative controlled hypotension for bleeding control and the multiple use of tranexamic acid can achieve satisfactory clinical results. In the perioperative period of TKA and THA, single or multiple use of different blood management measures should be considered carefully according to the physical and economic conditions of patients individually, so as to reduce the blood loss and allogeneic blood transfusion optimally, and finally accelerate the recovery of patients.