Blood loss and transfusion rate in short stem hip arthroplasty. A comparative study

PURPOSE: Little scientific evidence on blood loss and transfusion rates after short-stem hip arthroplasty exists. The hypothesis of this study was that the blood loss and transfusion rate is lower in short stems compared to straight stems. METHODS: We compared 124 patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) using a short-stem design (group 1) and 141 patients using a straight-stem design (group 2). All patients were operated on by the same surgeon, and both groups were similar in age, gender, affected side, body mass index, and ASA score. RESULTS: The calculated blood loss was 1139 ml in group 1 and 1358 ml in group 2 (p < 0.001). The transfusion rate was 8% in group 1 and 15.6% in group 2 (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 regarding complications and operation time (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared to patients after straight stem THA, both blood loss and blood transfusion rates were lower in patients after short stem THA.