The Journal of arthroplasty
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Concern about the safety of allogeneic blood transfusion, including the risk of viral infection and immunosuppression, has led to the development of transfusion options in total joint arthroplasty, including intraoperative and postoperative blood salvage, autologous donation, hemodilution, and the use of epoetin alfa. Intraoperative or postoperative blood salvage has been shown not to be cost-effective at our institution except in revision hip arthroplasties because not enough blood is collected. Autologous donation is not helpful. ⋯ The most efficient way to decrease allogeneic risk in these patients is epoetin alfa. Epoetin alfa decreases allogeneic risk to 12.9%, which is acceptable. Patients with preoperative hemoglobin >14 g/dL undergoing single total knee or total hip arthroplasty do not need anything because their allogeneic risk is minimal.
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This study evaluated the improvement in range of motion after revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in a consecutive series of patients with TKAs presenting with pain and limited range of motion. Eleven stiff (range of motion <70 degrees ) and painful TKAs were revised with a posterior stabilized condylar prosthesis and reviewed after an average of 37.6 months (range, 24-53 months). ⋯ Pain scores improved from 4.5 to 44.1, and all 11 patients were satisfied. This study shows that knee range of motion can improve significantly after revision TKA.
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This case series describes the use of continuous lumbar plexus block with sciatic nerve block as an alternative anesthetic for total hip arthroplasty (THA). A retrospective chart review was performed on 10 consecutive patients who underwent THA at Walter Reed Army Medical Center using continuous lumbar plexus block and sciatic nerve block for anesthesia. ⋯ Peripheral nerve block may provide superior intraoperative outcomes, as suggested by lower operative blood loss and potentially lower transfusion exposure. Lumbar plexus block with perineural catheter and sciatic nerve block with perioperative sedation is an effective alternative to general anesthesia for THA.
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Scheduled preoperative and postoperative analgesia should be offered in a multimodal management model. By a combined drug synergy effect, the central nervous system, afferent pathways, and peripheral wound site are modified collectively. ⋯ The first more recent group used epidural anesthesia, and the second group used spinal anesthesia. Both protocols featured the use of cyclooxygenase-2-inhibiting anti-inflammatory medication administered for 2 weeks preoperatively and continued for 10 days postoperatively and patient-controlled analgesia for 24 hours followed by scheduled oral opioids.
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A total of 200 consecutive patients who underwent primary total knee or hip arthroplasty were reviewed to assess the efficacy of perioperative blood salvage and retransfusion. Five of 132 (3.8%) patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty and 3 of 68 (4.4%) patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty required allogeneic transfusion in addition to retransfusion of salvaged autologous blood. ⋯ The risk of requiring allogeneic transfusion was 22% (6 of 27) in patients with a preoperative hematocrit of