Avoiding Complications Associated With Anemia Following Total Joint Arthroplasty

As the number of total knee arthroplasty surgeries exponentially rise over the next decade, there will be a parallel rise in the complications observed. Patients who undergo total knee arthroplasties will be at an increased risk for postoperative anemia and allogenic blood transfusions (ABTs). The range of complications associated with perioperative anemia and ABTs include increased length of stay (LOS) in the hospital, increased surgical site infections/periprosthetic joint infections, and mortality. There are many perioperative blood conservation strategies that can be utilized to help optimize a patient, prevent excessive bleeding, and reduce the need for possible ABTs. Although there is extensive research on this topic, there is a lack of consensus on the best strategy to help prevent perioperative anemia and the complications associated with it. Surgeons should be able to recognize perioperative anemia and utilize the information in this section to prevent its unnecessary complications.
Source: Techniques in Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Symposium Source Type: research