【Abstract】 Objective: Massive hemorrhage is life-
threatening during armed conflicts. Tourniquets are impor-
tant medical devices used to reduce severe bleeding in
trauma. The aim of this study was to empirically evaluate
the current tourniquets used in China and provide informa-
tion to emergency nurses in selecting the appropriate
tourniquet.
Methods: Five tourniquets were self-applied by 20
healthy participants. The blood flow distal to the tourni-
quet site was assessed using vascular Doppler ultrasound.
Application time, pain, numbness, and other parameters were
evaluated.
Results: The bladder tourniquet and windlass tourni-
quet effectively occluded arterial blood flow with success
rates higher than 75% in both the upper and lower
extremities. The Cargo-strap was the fastest to apply, taking
(7.22±2.30) s for the upper extremity and (6.48±2.40) s for the
lower extremity. The rubber tube was the most painful, and
the improvised tourniquet was the least efficient. The suc-
cess rates were higher in the lower extremity than in the
upper extremity (P<0.05, Χ2
=5.714).
Conclusions: The bladder tourniquet and the wind-
lass tourniquet are efficient tourniquets, although the wind-
lass is superior with respect to portability and pain. The
Cargo-strap and rubber tourniquets have several disadvan-
tages that reduce their suitability for field use. The impro-
vised tourniquet is not recommended because of low effi-
ciency and severe pain during implementation.
Key words: Tourniquets; Hemorrhage; Emergency
treatment