Use of tourniquet in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: Is it truly necessary? A prospective randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: To examine the effects of tourniquet use in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in terms of (1) intraoperative visualization, (2) surgical time, (3) consumption of sterile saline, and (4) postoperative pain.

Methods: In this prospective randomized clinical trial, patients were assigned to Tourniquet Group or No Tourniquet treatment groups. The primary outcomes were intraoperative visualization, with scores ranging from 0 to 10 (0 = no visibility; 10 = clear and perfect display), surgical time, and the consumption of sterile saline. The secondary aim was to measure postoperative pain (24 h after surgery) with the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain.

Results: A total of 71 patients were included in the No Tourniquet group, and 75 were included in the Tourniquet group, with mean ages of 26.73 ± 8.05 years and 26.95 ± 10.11 years, respectively (p = .88). In the No Tourniquet group, 37 concomitant meniscal lesions were treated, whereas in the Tourniquet group, 38 (p = .99) were treated. The mean surgical times were 51.07 ± 6.90 and 50.03 ± 7.62 (p = .325), respectively, while the mean amount of saline consumed was 6.17 ± 1.18 L versus 5.89 ± 1.23 L (p = .217). Both groups achieved optimal visualization, with a sum of all surgical steps of 65.49 ± 1.86 for the no tourniquet group and 65.39 ± 1.88 for the Tourniquet group (p = .732). Postoperative pain was significantly lower in the No Tourniquet group (VAS score: 2.82 ± 1.33 vs 5.80 ± 1.22).

Conclusions: Tourniquet use during ACL reconstruction does not improve intraoperative visualization and does not reduce surgical time but leads to greater postoperative pain with a risk of well-known tourniquet-related complications.

Level of evidence: Level I - Randomized clinical trial.