Prehospital tourniquet use in civilian extremity trauma: an Australian observational study

Prehospital tourniquets (PHTQ) for trauma have been shown to be safe and effective in the military environment and in some civilian settings. However, the supporting civilian data are mostly from North America with a differing case mix and trauma system and may not be applicable to the Australian environment. The aim of this study is to describe our initial experience with PHTQ from safety and efficacy viewpoints.

Retrospective review of all patients with PHTQ from 1 August 2016 to 31 December 2019 was conducted. Data were matched from the RMH Trauma Registry and Ambulance Victoria Registry. Clinical presentation including prehospital observations, PHTQ times, limb outcomes and complications are described.

Thirty-one cases met inclusion criteria, for whom median age was 37 (IQR: 23.9-66.3), median ISS 17 (13-34) and 80.6% were male. The majority (n = 19, 61.3%) were as a result of road traffic crash, and six (19.4%) from penetrating mechanisms, usually glass. Over a quarter (29.0%) suffered a traumatic amputation. The median prehospital SBP was 100 (IQR: 80-110), the median prehospital HR was 101 (IQR: 77.0-122.3) and was the median PHTQ time was 124 min (IQR: 47-243). Complications attributable to the tourniquet were seen in 4/30 cases (13.3%).

This Australian series differs from North American civilian PHTQ series with a lower penetrating trauma rate and longer PHTQ times. Despite this, complication rates are within the published literature's range. Concerns regarding limited transferability of overseas studies to the Australian context suggests that ongoing audit is required.