Fat emboli in total knee arthroplasty. A prospective randomized study of computer-assisted navigation vs standard surgical technique

Mary I. O'Connor, Mark P. Brodersen, Neil G. Feinglass, Bruce J. Leone, Julia E. Crook, Barbara E. Switzer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

A prospective exploratory study of fat emboli in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty was performed in patients randomly assigned to surgery with computer-assisted navigation or standard technique. Transesophageal echocardiography of the right atrium was recorded for 5 consecutive 1-minute intervals after tourniquet deflation. Emboli were graded on a scale of 0 to 3 based on embolism size, amount of atrium filled, and duration of embolic shower, creating an overall score of 0 to 9. The mean (SD, range) of the 5 overall scores for each total knee arthroplasty was 6.00 (0.76, 4.6-7.4) for computer-assisted navigation (22 patients) and 6.42 (0.97, 4.6-7.9) for standard technique (22 patients) (P = .14), with a 95% confidence interval for the difference of -0.11 to 0.95. We conclude that any difference in extent of emboli between the 2surgical techniques is unlikely to be of clinical significance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1034-1040
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Arthroplasty
Volume25
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

Keywords

  • Computer-assisted navigation
  • Embolism
  • Fat emboli
  • Total knee arthroplasty

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

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