[Diagnosis and treatment of recurrent hemarthrosis after total knee arthroplasty]

Recurrent hemarthrosis is a relatively rare complication after total knee arthroplasty with the incidence estimated between 0.3% and 1.6%. There are various causes of this complication which can be broadly divided into general and local reasons. If the blood coagulation function was normal, the most common reason of hemarthrosis is the impingement of proliferative synovium between the articulating components of the knee prosthesis. However, some causes are not well understood which make diagnosis and treatment more difficult. Conservative therapy is the preferred treatment including rest, cooling, aspiration, and elevation. If conservative treatment is not successful, as next step an angiography and angiographic embolization of the source of bleeding is indicated. If embolization is unsuccessful, open synovectomy or arthroscopic is the next step. If these approaches are unsuccessful, the previously mentioned steps should be repeated until the cause of recurrent hemarthrosis become clear and the bleeding have been stopped.