Analysis of risk factors for procedure-related hemorrhage in rotator cuff repair surgery under shoulder arthroscopy

The present study aims to validate the methods of quantifying blood loss in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and to investigate the correlation between blood loss and joint pain and joint function recovery. A total of 38 patients with unilateral rotator cuff injuries who underwent shoulder arthroscopy were analyzed in this study. Related information, including age, gender, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), disease entity, comorbidity, joint release, and operating time, were collected into a spreadsheet. Serum hemoglobin and hematocrit (HCT) levels were obtained before the surgery and on the first and third days after the operation. The visual analog scale (VAS) score and the constant-Murley score of the shoulder joint were evaluated 1 year after the operation. Preoperative blood volume (PBV), red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and HCT levels were significantly higher than those on postoperative day 1 and day 3. The average surgery-related blood loss was calculated to be 435.2 ± 53.6 mL during the surgery and the first postoperative day and 542.5 ± 63.0 mL during the surgery and the first 3 days after the surgery. The VAS score was significantly reduced 1 year after surgery. The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that joint release was a potential risk factor for predicting blood loss 1 or 3 days postoperatively. The actual blood loss from shoulder arthroscopy may be underestimated. The joint release was regarded as the leading risk factor for blood loss.