The Wrist Tourniquet in Combination with Wrist Anesthesia in Hand Surgery

Abstract

In order to find an easier and faster method of preventing bleeding for evaluation and operation especially in emergency room a new method of tourniquet (wrist tourniquet) was studied for hand surgery. Twenty-five (17 male and 8 female) patients mostly with trauma were subjected to this study. The mean age of these patients was 30. All of the patients had a wound or other pathological features in their hands distal to the carpal ligament. Esmarch bandage was applied to the wrist with two sponges located on the ulnar and radial arteries to prevent bleeding. Before application of the tourniquet, median, ulnar and radial nerves were blocked by injecting 7 milliliters of 1% lidocaine solution at wrist level. All of the patients were free of pain for at least 45 minutes. No complications were observed. The wrist tourniquet method can be easily used in the operating and emergency rooms.