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International Orthopaedics
Published in: International Orthopaedics 5/2013

01-05-2013 | Original Paper

Tourniquet time affects postoperative complications after knee arthroplasty

Authors: Charlotta Olivecrona, Lasse J. Lapidus, Lina Benson, Richard Blomfeldt

Published in: International Orthopaedics | Issue 5/2013

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Abstract

Purpose

Pneumatic tourniquets are frequently used in knee arthroplasty surgery. However, there is a lack of evidence to define safe tourniquet time in lower limb surgery. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether tourniquet time influences the risk of postoperative complications after primary and secondary knee arthroplasty.

Methods

This study was a prospective register study. Since we wanted dispersion in tourniquet time, we included a consecutive series of 577 primary knee arthroplasties, 46 revision knee arthroplasties, and 18 patellar supplementing knee arthroplasties from a clinical audit database over a period of five years. The following postoperative complications were recorded: superficial wound infections, deep wound infections, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, nerve injuries, compartment syndrome, cuff pressure injuries, and bandage injuries.

Results

Tourniquet time over 100 minutes was associated with an increased risk of complications after knee arthroplasty surgery (OR 2.2, CI 1.5–3.1). This increase in risk remained after adjusting for cuff pressure, sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, smoking, diabetes, and surgery indication (OR 2.4, CI 1.6–3.6).

Conclusions

Tourniquet time over 100 minutes increases the risk of complications after knee arthroplasty surgery and special attention is advocated to reduce the tourniquet time.
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Metadata
Title
Tourniquet time affects postoperative complications after knee arthroplasty
Authors
Charlotta Olivecrona
Lasse J. Lapidus
Lina Benson
Richard Blomfeldt
Publication date
01-05-2013
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
International Orthopaedics / Issue 5/2013
Print ISSN: 0341-2695
Electronic ISSN: 1432-5195
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-013-1826-4

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