Pneumatic tourniquet use has gained popularity in peripheral limb operations since its advent in 1904 by Harvey Cushing, permitting tourniquet pressure to be monitored and manually controlled throughout surgery. In total knee arthroplasty (TKA), application of a mid-thigh pneumatic tourniquet offers the possible benefits of providing a dry operating field, reducing intraoperative blood loss, allowing cement to set in an optimal and completely dry environment thus potentially improving bone-cement inter-digitation and reducing operative time.
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