Abstract
Background
Although a common first aid topic, emergency tourniquets to stop bleeding are controversial
because there is little experience on which to guide use. Absent an adequate historical
analysis, we have researched development of emergency tourniquets from antiquity to
the present.
Methods
We selected sources emphasizing historical development of tourniquets from books and
databases such as PubMed.
Results
The history of the emergency tourniquet is long and disjointed, mainly written by
hospital surgeons with little accounting, until recently, of the needs of forward
medics near the point injury. Many investigators often are unaware of the breadth
of the tourniquet’s history and voice opinions based on anecdotal observations.
Conclusions
Reporting the historical development of tourniquet use allowed us to recognize disparate
problems investigators discuss but do not recognize, such as venous tourniquet use.
We relate past observations with recent observations for use by subsequent investigators.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 22, 2011
Received in revised form:
January 20,
2011
Received:
September 2,
2010
Footnotes
Dr. Kragh is an employee of the US Government and receives institutional support through his employer, the US Army Institute of Surgical Research. He has consulted at no cost with Tiger Tourniquet, LLC, Tactical Medical Solutions, LLC, Combat Medical Systems, Inc., Composite Resources Inc., Delfi Medical Innovations, Inc., North American Rescue Products, LLC, H & H Associates, Inc., Creative & Effective Technologies, Inc., TEMS Solutions, LLC, Blackhawk Products Group, Hemaclear, Tactical Development Group, Compression Works, LLC, Tier One Quality Solutions, Kforce Government Solutions, CHI Systems, and Entrotech, Inc. He has received honoraria for work for the Food and Drug Administration for device consultation. He has received honoraria for trustee work for the nonprofit Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation. He has worked as a technical representative to the US Government's contracting officer in agreements with Physical Optics Corporation, Resodyn Corporation, International Heart Institute of Montana Foundation, Daemen College, Noble Biomaterials, Inc., Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, National Tissue Engineering Center, Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Arteriocyte, Inc., and Kelly Space and Technology, Inc.
The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as being official or as reflecting the views of the US Department of the Army or the US Government. The authors are employees of the US Government. This work was prepared as part of their official duties and, as such, there is no copyright to be transferred.
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Published by Elsevier Inc.
