Timing of tourniquet removal after knee replacement

Abstract

This paper describes a prospective trial which was set up in order to decide whether after knee replacement it is better to remove the tourniquet (pneumatic cuff) before closure of the wound or to leave it on until compressive dressings have been applied. In 80 operations studied, there was less blood loss when the tourniquet was removed after closure and bandaging, but there was no difference in wound complications. The only statistically significant difference was attributed to the timing of tourniquet removal in those patients (about half) who were receiving low-dose heparin.