Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery
-
Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · May 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialNo need for use of drainage after minimally invasive unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: a prospective randomized, controlled trial.
Drainage is a common procedure in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), but evidence regarding its effectiveness is lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the benefits of drainage after minimally invasive UKA with effective blood loss management. ⋯ The use of drainage in unilateral UKA provides no apparent advantage. With effective blood loss management and a minimally invasive procedure, blood loss and drainage volume in UKA are very low. Drainage does not improve the results. Foregoing non-drainage after UKA reduces both hospital costs and visible blood loss. Therefore, drainage is unnecessary in routine UKA.