4. Discussion
blood loss, TKAs, pain
BLOOD LOSS, BLIND, COMPLICATIONS, POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
Tourniquet usage for TKAs has been under debate for a long time. However, the evidence regarding this topic from our country is lacking. Thus, we decided to develop this detailed study. The evidence from the literature is conflicting regarding blood loss, function and complications. Therefore, we opted for a prospective randomized trial for a more precise estimation of the postoperative outcome. The main finding of this paper was that both groups presented improvements regarding the WOMAC scores. We did not find statistically significant differences between the groups, except after 6 weeks, where we found better WOMAC pain scores for the NT group (Another parameter that we measured was the Visual Analogue Scale. Even though both groups demonstrated an improvement regarding pain, we did not find any significant differences between the groups. Despite our findings, Chen et al. reported that tourniquet usage for the entire TKA procedure was linked with significantly higher thigh pain [We recorded a significantly higher amount of blood loss during the surgery (Another essential parameter for hospital costs is the operative time. We found significantly shorter operative room times for the NT group (The usage of tourniquets is also highly debated regarding postoperative complications. Tie et al. reported an increased rate of wound complications after prolonged tourniquet usage [Our study presents some limitations. Since the hospital stay is relatively short, we could not assess the hidden blood loss in both groups. We also admit that a one-year follow-up could have added additional data, despite the relevant information that we recorded. We also were not able to blind the surgeon to the allocation of the patient. Another limitation of this paper is that we used a high-pressure tourniquet, which is correlated with higher early surgical site pain levels compared to lower pressures [