In a prospective study of eighty press-fit condylar knee arthroplasties
performed with cement, we compared the postoperative blood loss in forty
patients in whom the defect left by the femoral intramedullary alignment
rod had been left open with the blood loss in forty patients in whom the
defect had been closed with a plug of cement. The patients in the
open-defect group had significantly more blood loss (mean, 1002
milliliters) in the first twenty-four hours after the operation than the
closed-defect group (mean, 752 milliliters) (p < or = 0.01). The total
postoperative blood loss was also significantly greater in the open-defect
group (mean, 1536 milliliters) than in the closed-defect group (mean, 1215
milliliters) (p = 0.02).