Martial arts technique for control of severe external bleeding

Area of Science:

• Traumatology
• Vascular Surgery
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Hemorrhage control is crucial in trauma care, especially when advanced hemostatic devices are inaccessible.
• Significant avoidable blood loss can occur in civilian settings without immediate access to tourniquets or bandages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu knee mount position for reducing blood flow velocity in major extremity arteries.
• To determine if this martial art technique can serve as an alternative method for hemorrhage control.

Main Methods:

• Healthy adult volunteers underwent knee mount compression applied to the shoulder, groin, and abdomen.
• Mean arterial blood flow velocity (MAV) in brachial and femoral arteries was measured via ultrasound before and after compression.
• A decrease in MAV greater than 20% was considered clinically relevant.

Main Results:

• Median MAV decreased significantly from 29.2 cm/s at baseline to 3.3 cm/s during compression (p<0.001).
• Shoulder compression achieved 97.5% MAV reduction, and groin compression achieved 78% reduction, both clinically relevant.
• Abdominal compression resulted in a 35% MAV reduction, which was not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu knee mount technique effectively reduces blood flow in major extremity arteries.
• This method offers a potential non-device-based approach for managing severe bleeding after injury.