What is a Tourniquet?
The use of a tourniquet (pressure cuff on the leg) has been routine practice for many Orthopaedic Surgeons to provide a blood less field. Recently a trend towards doing knee replacement surgery without the use of a tourniquet has been increasing.
Benefits of Tourniquet-less Surgery
- Less pain
- Less use of strong pain medications (opiates)
- Better quadriceps function
- Less major complications
- Infection
- Blood clots (DVT / PE)
- Re operation
A link to the Cochrane Review summarising the benefits of Tourniquet-less Total Knee Replacement Surgery can be found here
Tourniquet Less Total Knee Replacement