Background: Effective blood management strategies are a major determinant of successful outcomes after one-stage bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA). Proper patient selection with preoperative optimization and intra- and postoperative interventions can reduce transfusion risk and associated morbidity in these patients.
Questions/purposes: The purpose of this study was to evaluate intraoperative blood management modalities based on three keystone questions: (1) What is the role of the anesthesiologist?, (2) Which are the surgeon-dependent strategies?, and (3) Is there any place for pharmacologic interventions?
Methods: We searched the established electronic literature database MEDLINE. After critical appraisal, 94 studies were deemed eligible from which to draw documented evidence.
Results: A number of blood-conserving methods are currently implemented in patients undergoing one-stage BTKA. Among them, regional anesthesia, tourniquet use, and tourniquet deflation after wound closure, femoral canal sparing or femoral canal plugging, avoidance of drains, and tranexamic acid use were the intraoperative strategies with documented efficacy in blood conservation.
Conclusion: Combined proper intraoperative anesthesiologic, surgical, and pharmacologic interventions reduce blood loss and need for transfusion in BTKA patients. However, contemporary relevant literature is lacking evidence-based guidelines.
Keywords: bilateral total knee arthroplasty; intraoperative blood conserving.