The dynamics of perioperative serum albumin before and after total knee arthroplasty

Previous studies have evaluated preoperative serum albumin (SA) for predicting postoperative complications of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study aimed to investigate the dynamics of perioperative SA and changes in SA (ΔSA) and identify any influential patient or surgical factors. In total, 381 patients (483 knees) undergoing primary TKA were recruited. SA values preoperatively (SA0), 1 week postoperatively (SA1W), and 4 weeks postoperatively (SA4W) were investigated. SA values were converted to a percentage of SA0 and differences between timepoints were calculated and expressed as follows: ΔSA1W−0, ΔSA4W–1W, and ΔSA4W−0. Patient and surgical factors previously identified or with the potential to influence SA were evaluated. The median values of SA0, SA1W, and SA4W were 4.4, 3.8, and 4.2 g/dL, respectively; SA0 was significantly different between groups (p