The use of tourniquet during total knee replacement in patients with and without popliteal artery calcification.

OBJECTIVE: Identify the clinical and surgical complications associated with the use of a tourniquet in total knee arthroplasty in patients with or without calcification of the popliteal artery. METHODS: The study was performed retrospectively, analyzing 58 patients with calcification of the popliteal artery and 57 patients as a control group. RESULTS: The case group patients were significantly older than patients in the control group; however, this had no impact on the clinical outcome in the analyzed period.There were no complications during surgery in the groups studied, as there were no statistically significant differences between the incidence of local or systemic intercurrences in the analyzed period. CONCLUSION: This study found low rates of complications in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasties with use of a tourniquet, with or without calcification of the popliteal artery.