Tourniquet - History

History

The earliest known usage of a tourniquet dates back to 199 BCE-500 CE. It was used by the Romans to control bleeding, especially during amputations. These tourniquets were narrow straps made of bronze, using only leather for comfort.

In 1718, French surgeon Jean Louis Petit developed a screw device for occluding blood flow in surgical sites. Before this invention, the “tourniquet” was a simple garrot, tightened by twisting a rod (thus its name tourniquet, from "tourner" = turn).

Joseph Lister is credited for being the first to use a tourniquet device to create a bloodless surgical field in 1864. He also recommended exsanguinations prior to tourniquet application by limb elevation. In 1873, Friedrich von Esmarch developed a rubber bandage that would both control bleeding and exsanguinate. This device is known as Esmarch's bandage for surgical haemostasis or Eschmarch's Tourniquet. At the time this device was superior to Petit’s device as there were no screws to loosen or cloth to tear. In 1881, Richard von Volkmann showed that limb paralysis can occur from the use of the Esmarch tourniquet.

In 1904, Harvey Cushing created a pneumatic tourniquet. This type of tourniquet compressed the underlying blood vessels using a compressed gas source to inflate a cylindrical bladder. This was superior to the Esmarch tourniquet in two ways: (1) the tourniquet could be applied and removed quickly; and (2) this method of limb occlusion decreased the incidence of nerve paralysis.

August Bier used two tourniquets for administering segmental anesthesia in 1908. In this procedure circulation is isolated in a limb and the limb is then infused intravenously. In 1963 Hamilton E. Holmes reintroduced Bier’s method as a single tourniquet technique. Today, the two-tourniquet technique is used frequently and is called intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA). It is also commonly referred to as Bier block, or Bier’s method.

In the early 1980s microprocessor-controlled tourniquets were invented by James McEwen, a biomedical engineer in Vancouver, Canada. The first US patent for an electronic tourniquet system was awarded to Dr. McEwen in 1984 and to date he has been awarded many more US and foreign patents for tourniquet improvements. The use of automatic tourniquet systems has significantly improved tourniquet safety. Modern automatic tourniquets are self-calibrating and self-contained. These new tourniquet devices also provide a variety of safety features that are not possible in older mechanical tourniquets.