Objective: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of post-operative retransfusion drain(PRD) after total hip arthroplasty.
Methods: A systematic literature review based on PubMed, EMBase, the Cochrane Library, China Biology Medicine disc, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Database in any language regarding PRD following total hip arthroplasty was performed.The data was evaluated using modified Jadad score and then analyzed using RevMan 5.2.
Results: Nine randomized controlled trials totaling 1 824 patients, 913 patients in PRD group and 911 in control group, were eligible for data extraction and Meta-analysis.The results indicated that the use of PRD could reduce the requirement of allogeneic blood transfusion when compared with ordinary vacuum drainage (RR=0.61, 95% CI= 0.47-0.79), but the benefit was not found when compared with no drainage group(RR=1.07, 95% CI=0.67-1.71). And the postoperative hemoglobin level was higher in PRD group(MD=0.14, 95% CI=0.01-0.27, P=0.04). No significant difference was identified regarding transfusion index, length of hospital stay, the incidence of febrile reaction and wound-related complications.
Conclusions: PRD in reducing requirement of blood transfusion following THA is effective and safe when compared with ordinary vacuum drainage, but the benefit is not found when compared with no drainage.And more robust evidence is needed to confirm this result.