to
reduce the excessive blood loss from the drain. Recently, drain clamping has received
increasing attention. Since most of the blood loss in TKA occurs during the first few
postoperative hours (37% in 2 hours and 55% in 4 hours)(Jou IM 1993; Senthil Kumar et al.
2005), it seems reasonable to clamp the drain tube in the first few hours after TKA to
temporarily create a tamponade effect for bleeding control. Various methods of clamping
drain have been reported in the literature. However, no consensus has been achieved to
date.
To clarify the role of drainage system after total knee arthroplasty, we conduct a review
process in the present project. A comprehensive search was carried out and the articles
regarding the drainage after surgery were reviewed. This review article focused on:
1. Effectiveness of postoperative drainage in TKA.
2. Safety and complications of postoperative drainage in TKA.
3. Effect of temporary drain clamping.