The Pringle manoeuvre is a surgical manoeuvre used in some abdominal operations. A large haemostat is used to clamp the hepatoduodenal ligament interrupting the flow of blood through the hepatic artery and the portal vein and thus helping to control bleeding from the liver.
Should bleeding though continue, it is likely that the inferior vena cava or the hepatic vein were also traumatised.
It was developed by James Hogarth Pringle, who studied at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
The Pringle manoeuvre is very often used during liver surgery to minimize blood loss, however it can directly lead to reperfusion phenomenon in the liver and it has recently been suggested that it should be avoided in hepatectomy for cancer patients due to its side effects on tumor recurrence and worse prognosis.