EFFECTS OF TRANEXAMIC ACID ADMINISTRATION ON RECOVERY
AFTER UNILATERAL TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY
QIANG LI, JUN XIAO *, HAILUN ZHU, SHIXIONG ZHENG, ZHANJUN SHI
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
510515, PR China
*corresponding author: xjxiaojun01@163.com
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Abstract:
Knee arthroplasty (TKA) plays an important role in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). This study aimed to
investigate the impact of tranexamic acid (TXA) administration on the amount of bleeding and knee function improvement in
unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One hundred and two patients who underwent primary unilateral TKA surgery in
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China from June 2015 to May 2017 were divided into three
groups: group A was intravenously and intraarticularly injected tranexamic acid, group B was injected with tranexamic acid
in the joint cavity and group C was injected intravenously and intraarticularly with saline solution, 34 patients in each group.
After losses to follow-up we ended with 91 patients: 31 cases in group A, 28 cases in group B, 32 in group C. The
demographic and biochemical parameters of the three groups at the baseline were analysed as: age, gender, body mass index,
preoperative haemoglobin, preoperative haematocrit, preoperative D-dimer (DD), preoperative knee mobility, Knee Society
Score (KSS) function scores, operative time and incision length. All these variables were not statistically significant different
between the groups (p > 0.05). Changes in body temperature, total blood loss, visible blood loss, occult blood loss, D- dimer,
pain degree, swelling degree and mobility of the knee joint were compared after surgery. The KSS, Lysholm and Hospital for
Special Surgery (HSS) scores of the knee joint were measured three and six months after the surgery. The KSS function
score, HSS score and Lysholm score of knee joint three months after operation were statistically significant different (p <
0.05). The scores of A and B group were higher than those of group C, but there was no statistically significant difference
between group A and group B (p > 0.05). After six months follow-up, in the knee mobility and KSS function scores of the
three groups was no difference (p > 0.05). The injection of tranexamic acid in the venous joint cavity can effectively reduce
the amount of red blood cells after TKA surgery, and it can reduce the possibility of patients undergoing allogeneic red blood
cells after surgery.

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