The Aquamantys System—An Alternative To Reduce Blood Loss in Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty?

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Bipolar Sealer 6.0-VT (BPS 6.0-VT) (Tissue Link Medical, Inc, Dover, NH) in reducing blood loss compared with a conventional electrocautery (Erbe ICC 350) (Erbe ICC 350 (ERBE Elektromedizin GmbH, Tübingen, Germany). A prospective randomized trial of 105 patients with primary total hip arthroplasty (Erbe ICC 350: 50 patients; BPS 6.0-VT: 55 patients). On the basis of the calculation of the preoperative blood volume the total and postoperative blood loss were calculated. No statistically significant difference could be shown for total intraoperative and postoperative blood loss (group A 1846 mL; group B 1740 mL) (t test). Due to the lack of reduction of blood loss and the high costs of the BPS 6.0-VT, its use is not recommended in primary total hip arthroplasty.