The Effect of Air Tourniquet on Interleukin-6 Levels in Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Background: Air tourniquet-induced skeletal muscle injury increases the concentrations of some cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) in plasma. However, the effect of an air tourniquet on the IL-6 concentrations after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is unclear. We therefore investigated the impact of tourniquet-induced ischemia and reperfusion injury in TKA using the IL-6 level as an index.

Serum concentrations of interleukin-6 in patients following unilateral versus bilateral total knee arthroplasty.

Background: Surgical stress is known to affect body temperature, white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The aim of the present study was to investigate which parameter is most suitable for quantitative analysis of surgical stress.

Methods: Unilateral total knee arthroplasty (U-TKA) and bilateral TKA (B-TKA) were selected for the subjects of this study because the B-TKA creates approximately double the surgical stress of the U-TKA.

Burden among caregivers of elderly patients with osteoarthritis of hip joint.

The present study was conducted to investigate burden among caregivers of patients with osteoarthritis of hip joint. Caregivers and their elderly patients with osteoarthritis of hip joint were compared with caregivers and their frail elderly who received regular nurse visits or caregivers and their non-demented frail elderly with regular nurse visits. The patients with osteoarthritis of hip joint had less disability to perform ADL than the frail elderly with regular nurse visits.