Why the study?
Does total knee replacement affect venous blood flow in the legs?
Does total knee replacement affect venous blood flow in the legs?
Total knee replacement causes a transient reduction in venous capacitance and outflow in the operated leg that resolves by six days postoperatively.
Transient leg venous changes after TKR warrant no prophylaxis adjustment; leaves open any link to early thrombosis risk.
We studied the effect of total knee replacement on venous flow in 110 patients. Resting venous blood flow was measured using strain-gauge plethysmography before operation, after surgery and after discharge from hospital. There was a significant reduction in mean venous capacitance (p < 0.001) and mean venous outflow (p < 0.004) affecting only the operated leg. Both improved significantly after mobilisation in the early postoperative period, returning to preoperative levels by six days after surgery and before discharge from hospital.
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McNally et al. (1997) studied this question.
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