Two New Effective Tourniquets for Potential Use in the Military Environment: A Serving Soldier Study

Area of Science:

• Trauma and emergency medicine
• Vascular surgery
• Military medicine

Background:

• Limb tourniquets are critical for managing severe bleeding in conflicts.
• The Combat Applied Tourniquet (C-A-T) has limitations, especially for mid-thigh application.
• There is a need for improved tourniquet designs for effective lower limb hemorrhage control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of two novel tourniquets: the tactical mechanical tourniquet and the tactical pneumatic tourniquet.
• To compare their ability to achieve popliteal artery occlusion when applied to the mid-thigh.
• To assess associated pain levels during application.

Main Methods:

• 12 healthy service personnel participated in the study.
• Tactical mechanical and pneumatic tourniquets were applied to lower limbs in a randomized sequence.
• Popliteal artery occlusion was confirmed using portable ultrasound with Doppler.
• Time to occlusion, number of turns, and pain scores were recorded.

Main Results:

• Both tourniquets achieved complete popliteal artery occlusion in all participants (n=24).
• The mechanical tourniquet achieved occlusion in a median of 3.8 turns and 16 seconds.
• Pain scores were comparable between the mechanical and pneumatic tourniquets, remaining within acceptable thresholds.

Conclusions:

• Both the tactical mechanical and pneumatic tourniquets effectively occluded the popliteal artery at the mid-thigh.
• These devices represent potential improvements over existing tourniquets for battlefield use.
• Further research is necessary, focusing on self-application and use on different anatomical sites.