Silicone ring tourniquet or pneumatic cuff tourniquet for total knee arthroplasty

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the potential advantages of a silicon ring tourniquet in comparison to the conventional pneumatic cuff tourniquet. The tested hypothesis was that the calculated blood loss will be decreased after use of the silicone ring tourniquet.

The study was monocentric and mixed retrospective and prospective evaluation of prospectively collected data. Inclusion criterion was implantation of a total knee arthroplasty. The retrospective control group involved 39 patients operated on with a pneumatic cuff tourniquet. The prospective study group involved 33 patients operated on with a silicone ring tourniquet. All patients were followed for three months. Primary criterion was the calculated blood loss (OSTHEO formula). Secondary criteria were pain on third post-op day, need for allogenic transfusion, haemoglobin drop, delay of discharge, and occurrence of complications.

The mean calculated blood loss was 901 ml in the study group and 989 ml in the control group (NS). There was no significant difference in pain evaluation and haemoglobin drop between the two groups. There was a non significant decrease of allogeneic transfusion and length of stay in the study group. There was a significant decrease of complication rate in the study group, and especially for skin complications.

The tested hypothesis was not confirmed: there was no significant change in the calculated blood loss. No bias was identified in complication analysis. The decreased rate of skin complication might be a positive influence of the silicone ring tourniquet.