EFFECT OF POSTOPERATIVE REINFUSION SYSTEMS ON HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS IN PRIMARY TOTAL HIP AND TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTIES - A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED STUDY

A prospective randomized study was undertaken to quantify the effect o f reinfusion of postoperative shed blood drainage on,the hemoglobin le vels in patients undergoing elective primary total hip arthroplasty (T HA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One hundred eleven patients wer e enrolled between December 1990 and August 1991. There were 42 THAs a nd 69 TKAs. The study group consisted of 57 patients (35 TKAs and 22 T HAs) who received a CBC ConstaVac (Stryker Surgical, Kalamazoo, MI) re infusion system. The control group consisted of 54 patients (34 TKAs a nd 20 THAs) who received a ConstaVac collection unit. Postoperative dr ainage volumes were recorded for both groups. In addition, the volume of reinfused blood was recorded for the study group. Postoperative hem oglobins were recorded on postoperative days 1, 3, and 6, the latter r eflecting the discharge hemoglobin level. All patients were encouraged to predeposit two units of autologous blood for both THAs and TKAs. T his study showed no statistically significant difference in the postop erative hemoglobin levels between the study and control groups at anyt ime. Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference b etween hemoglobin levels and drainage volumes in both the THA and TKA study groups, compared to their respective control groups. The results of this study suggest that reinfusion units are not necessary in THAs and TKAs as a matter of routine use.