Blood Loss
Perioperative blood loss in Hip Replacement
Hip replacement is a surgical procedure where the diseased cartilage and bone of the hip joint was removed and replaced with artificial materials. The hip is a ball and socket joint with the cup-shaped bone of the basin is the outlet and the head of the femur, as the ball.
Hip joint replacement involves removing the diseased ball and socket and replacing them with a metal ball and stem inserted into the femur bone and an artificial socket plastic cup. The metallic artificial ball and stem are known as prostheses.
Total hip replacement may involve the loss of blood. Patients who are planning to undergo surgery for hip transplant, donate their own (autologous) blood in advance which is stored and kept ready for use during their hip transplant in the event of blood transfusion is required. This is to minimize the risks of blood transfusion. It was noted that patients who donate their own blood a week before surgery tend to develop less number of clots in their legs and less likely to develop pulmonary embolus. This is mainly due to the blood becomes less viscous due to the donation of blood.
Preoperative autologous donation (PAD) of blood from hip patients was standard practice for more than two decades. It was noted that this is a very expensive procedure into account the cost of inventory and waste. There are a number of alternative strategies available. Consequently, the need for the use of PAD for each patient may not be appropriate. At the 1999 annual meeting of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Wixson and colleagues, presented a document to answer some of these questions. They concluded on the basis of a study conducted PAD who do not routinely anemic patients is not justified.