Comparison of autologous transfusion drains versus no drain in total knee arthroplasty.

Primary total knee arthroplasty is associated with blood loss both during surgery and in the immediate postoperative period, that may require allogenic blood transfusion. In view of the risks and financial implications of using allogenic blood, an accepted solution has been to utilise autotransfusion drains in the postoperative period thus allowing re-infusion of a patient's own blood. A number of studies have compared retransfusion techniques with standard drain use, but few report comparison with no drain use at all. We analysed data from patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty within our unit over an 18-month period. A total of 121 patients were included in the study: 53 received retransfusion drains whilst the remaining 68 received no drain at all. The mean postoperative haemoglobin drop was not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). In the retransfusion group only one patient (2%) required allogenic blood transfusion postoperatively, whilst 4 of the 68 (6%) did so in the control group. This difference was not statistically significant either. This study showed a low rate of allogenic blood use postoperatively (< 5%) where either a retransfusion drain or no drain was used at all. However because there was no measurable difference between the two, we conclude that using a retransfusion technique does not appear to be of significant financial or clinical benefit with regards to allogenic blood transfusions compared with using no drain.