The effect of patient position on blood loss in primary cemented total hip arthroplasty

The total blood loss of 101 cemented primary total hip arthroplasties was studied in a prospective randomised study.

Fifty of them were implanted in the supine position and 51 in the lateral position. The patients were matched for sex, height, weight and ASA grade. Only one surgeon carried out the operations using the same operative technique and identical prosthesis in both groups.

The intraoperative blood loss associated with the supine position was 1,156 ml (954-1,265 ml) and 1,129 ml (989-1,310 ml) in the lateral position. There was no difference when comparing the two groups (P = 0.41).

Patient positioning in supine or lateral during total hip arthroplasty surgery has no bearing on the total amount of blood loss.