Revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can be quite challenging in Jehovah's Witness
patients because blood transfusion is often needed, however, these patients do not
accept allogeneic or autologous blood due to religious convictions. We reported our
clinical experiences with a special blood management protocol for Jehovah's Witnesses
who underwent a revision TKA. There were 12 self-reported Jehovah's Witness patients
(12 total knee arthroplasties) who had a mean age of 69 years (range: 55 to 79 years)
and who underwent revision TKA between 1998 and 2009. All revision surgeries were
due to aseptic component failure. Implant survivorship was 100% over a mean follow-up
of 62 months (range: 24 to 120 months). The Knee Society objective and function scores
improved to a mean of 83 and 82 points, respectively. The authors believe that the
use of this blood management protocol was responsible for the excellent clinical outcomes.
Keywords
total knee arthroplasty - revision - Jehovah's Witnesses - blood transfusion - clinical
outcome