Risk of transfusion eightfold higher in bilateral knee replacements: study

Post operative complications include pulmonary embolism, stroke, transfusion and readmission, the authors say.
HealthDay News

The risk of pulmonary embolism, stroke and blood loss anaemia more than doubled in patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral knee replacement compared with those who had a unilateral procedure, a study shows.

In addition, the risk of transfusion was almost eight times greater in those who underwent a simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) compared with those who had a single procedure, US researchers say.