A prospective randomized trial of total synovectomy versus limited synovectomy in primary total knee arthroplasty: evaluation of bleeding, postoperative pain, and quality of life with SF-12 v2.

BACKGROUND: During total knee arthroplasty (TKA), total synovectomy (TS) as a part of the surgical technique has been proposed to reduce the inflammatory tissue after the procedure, but there is a controversy about it because of the risk of major postsurgical bleeding. The aim of this study was to compare postoperative bleeding, pain, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after a TKA when a TS is performed and when it is not.

METHODS: The difference in pre and postoperative hemoglobin was measured, as well as postoperative pain using visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at 24 and 48 h post-surgical, HRQOL was measured prior to surgery and at one year using the SF-12V2 questionnaire.

RESULTS: We assessed a total of 148 patients (73 for TS and 75 for limited synovectomy). We have found a difference of 0.9 mg/dl of pre- and postoperative hemoglobin between both groups, with a higher bleeding amount for the TS group (P = 0.0000647); VAS scores were slightly lower for the TS group at 24 and 48 h after surgery, but not relevant. The TS group required transfusion in 13.3% and the limited synovectomy group in 6.8%. No significant differences in HRQOL were found in both groups at 1 year follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Performing a TS in TKA in patients with osteoarthrosis does not result in a relevant lower postoperative pain, or in an improvement in HRQOL, and it does increase the amount of bleeding after the procedure.