Antibiotic and antithromboembolic prophylaxis in prosthetic surgery of the knee.

The prevention of deep sepsis and venous thromboembolism in knee replacement surgery is of great importance for the final success of treatment. General rules of prevention must be followed when using antimicrobial drugs (environment, surgical method, patient selection). Although it does have some negative aspects (overuse, high costs, development of resistant bacteria) the administration of antibiotics is recommended, but only when it is timely, correct, and carried out for a suitable amount of time. The prevention of thromboembolism is based first on the selection of patients who risk the occurrence of angiology-related diseases, on continuous passive postoperative movement, and, finally, on intentional normovolemic hemodilution, for which the procedures used and the advantages obtained are described.