The Use of Fibrin Sealant to Reduce Bleeding After Total Knee Replacement

Total knee replacement is an invasive surgical procedure that can expose patients to massive perioperative bleeding. This hematic loss results in a high rate of blood transfusion after total knee replacement (TKR) with an incidence from 10% to 58%.Methods to prevent the need for allogenic blood transfusion after TKR include hemodilution, perioperative blood salvage and reinfusion, hypotensive anesthesia, preoperative autologous blood donation and intravenous administration of tranexamic acid. In the last decade, the topical use of fibrin sealant has become a logical surgical stratagem for reducing blood loss in total knee arthroplasty.Fibrin sealants mimic the final step of the coagulation cascade reducing blood loss and transfusion requirements. A novel hemostatic agent derived from banked allogenic human plasma (EVICEL, Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, Ethicon, Somerville, NJ) is recently available on the market for a variety of surgical specialty. A randomized controlled study is conducted to test if the post-operative reduction in hemoglobin level would be lower in the fibrin sealant group compared to a control group.