Calcium alginate as haemostatic swabs in hip fracture surgery

Blood loss as a consequence of internal fixation of intertrochanteric fractures of the proximal femur was measured in two groups to compare the haemostatic effect of calcium alginate fibre swabs with that of simple gauze swabs. The patients in the gauze swab group lost 139.4 +/- 9.6 mL per-operatively, whilst those in the alginate swab group lost 98.8 +/- 9.9 mL (P < 0.01). The post-operative suction drainage loss in the gauze group was 158.4 +/- 17.3 mL, and that in the alginate swab group was 96.6 +/- 11.7 mL (P < 0.01). This study shows that alginate swabs significantly decrease per-operative blood loss and post-operative suction drainage loss, and suggests that haemostatic swabs could have wider applications in orthopaedic surgery.