Tourniquet use during total knee arthroplasty does not offer significant benefit: A retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Tourniquets are routinely employed during total knee arthroplasty; however, their use remains controversial.

Methods: This study investigates the efficacy and safety of this practice. A retrospective analysis of 186 patients was performed to assess benefits and/or risks associated with tourniquet use during knee arthroplasty. Total knee arthroplasty was performed using the Biomet Vanguard(®) PCL Prosthesis (Biomet, Warsaw, IN, USA). In total, 126 patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty were included in our final analysis.

Results: Patients with tourniquets had significantly less intraoperative blood loss than patients without (P < .001); patients without tourniquets required more blood transfusions (P = .551), and had significantly longer surgical times (P = .011). However, patients with tourniquets had more postoperative blood loss (P < .001), longer hospital stays (P = .013), and more frequent complications (P = .571). Blood transfusion requirement was significantly associated with complications (P < .001).

Conclusions: Tourniquet use provided no overall benefit.