We studied the effect of norepinephrine irrigation during total knee replacement arthroplasty (TKRA) on blood loss reduction.

A prospective study of 30 patients who received TKRA from the same surgeon between March 2003 and November 2003, was done. Patients were alternately allocated into two groups. The study group included 15 cases in which 1: 200, 000 diluted norepinephrine was used for irrigation intra-operatively, whereas the control group included 15 cases received normal saline irrigation. Postoperative drain and transfusion amounts were compared between the two groups using the independent t-test.

Early bleeding amounts for 6 hours after surgery were a significant difference between the two groups (study group 410.3 cc, control group 517.3 cc, p-value=0.03). However, delayed bleeding amounts during postoperative 6-48 hours (study group 163.8 cc, control group 244.7 cc, p-value=0.05) and transfusion amounts (study group 0.80 unit, control group 1.47 unit, p-value=0.07) were smaller in the study group, but showed no significant differences.

Using norepinephrine diluted in normal saline as an irrigation solution during TKRA can be considered for reducing early post operative bleeding.