Analysis of limb swelling and pain caused by a tourniquet after total knee arthroplasty / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

The advantages of the tourniquet in total knee arthroplasty are favored by surgeons. However, tourniquets can aggravate the swelling and pain of postoperative limbs，which is not good for early functional exercise. Researchers conducted many related studies which only stayed in clinical manifestations and did not clarify the causes and mechanisms of swelling and pain，So there are no positive effect on the prevention and treatment of swelling and pain. Tourniquets can cause ischemia, hypoxia and reperfusion injury in limbs, leading to local tissue inflammatory reactions, vascular injury, microcirculatory disorders, abnormal coagulation, deep venous thrombosis, lymphatic drainage disorders, joint cavity occult hemorrhage, effusion and the damage of distant organs, which eventually exacerbated the degree of swelling and pain of the limb. Therefore, the above factors are reviewed in this article.