Blood levels and half-life of methylmethacrylate after tourniquet release during knee arthroplasty.

The blood levels and the half-life of monomeric methylmethacrylate after tourniquet release were studied in nine patients with osteoarthrosis or rheumatoid arthritis of the knee joint, treated with the Townley prosthesis under spinal anesthesia. Several ventricular extrasystoles were monitored in one patient with high blood levels of monomeric methylmethacrylate (119.80 micrograms/ml). The blood levels of monomeric methylmethacrylate ranged between 0.10 and 1.44 microgram/ml in the rest of the patients. The half-life of monomeric methylmethacrylate in vivo was 47-55 min.