REDUCTION OF POSTOPERATIVE BLOOD-LOSS AFTER PRESS-FIT CONDYLAR KNEE ARTHROPLASTY WITH USE OF A FEMORAL INTRAMEDULLARY PLUG

In a prospective study of eighty press-fit condylar knee arthroplastie s performed with cement, we compared the postoperative blood loss in f orty patients in whom the defect left by the femoral intramedullary al ignment rod had been left open with the blood loss in forty patients i n whom the defect had been closed with a plug of cement. The patients in the open-defect group had significantly more blood loss (mean, 1002 milliliters) in the first twenty-four hours after the operation than the closed-defect group (mean, 752 milliliters) (p less-than-or-equal- to 0.01). The total postoperative blood loss was also significantly gr eater in the open-defect group (mean, 1536 milliliters) than in the cl osed-defect group (mean, 1215 milliliters) (p = 0.02).