Journal of special operations medicine : a peer reviewed journal for SOF medical professionals
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Hemorrhage from the trunk?appendage junctions is a common, preventable cause of death on the battlefield. The recently U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared SAM? Junctional Tourniquet (SJT) was designed to control out-of-hospital inguinal and axillary hemorrhage. The purpose of the present study was to provide safety and effectiveness data associated with use of the SJT. Such data provided support for regulatory clearance. ⋯ The SJT was shown to be safe and effective in hemorrhage control in a cadaver model for both the axillary and inguinal areas. The SJT's Target Compression Devices required pressures approximately equal to or lower than manual pressure to achieve hemostasis in these junctional regions.
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Case Reports
Abdominal aortic and junctional tourniquet controls hemorrhage from a gunshot wound of the left groin.
"Junctional hemorrhage" is defined as bleeding from the areas at the junction of the trunk and its appendages. This is an important cause of potentially preventable deaths on the battlefield and a difficult condition to treat in the civilian prehospital setting. Having a solution to definitively treat the condition decreases the mortality and morbidity of these injuries. The Abdominal Aortic and Junctional Tourniquet(tm) is (1) a Food and Drug Administration?cleared device that is currently indicated for pelvic, inguinal, and axillary bleeding; (2) the only junctional tourniquet with an indication for pelvic bleeding; (3) the only junctional tourniquet reported with a successful axillary use; and (4) effective at lower tissue pressures than other junctional tourniquets available.
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Case Reports
Tactical Hemorrhage Control Case Studies Using a Point-of-Care Mechanical Direct Pressure Device.
In 2012, a new hemorrhage control device entered the market, and by May 2013, the iTClamp 50 had acquired US Food and Drug Administration approval. The authors describe the use of the iTClamp 50 and present two case studies in which the iTClamp 50 was successfully used in the military environment to control potentially fatal hemorrhage.
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Historical Article
Medical operations of the 6th ranger infantry battalion.
The author gives a history of the formation of the 6th Ranger Infantry Battalion and varied aspects of Ranger medical operations, including personnel composition of the medical detachment, the work of the battalion?s surgeon during combat and noncombat operations, medical aspects of operational planning, available medical supplies, medical evacuation procedures, and preventive care.
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There are many challenges to treating life-threatening injuries for a healthcare provider deployed to a remote location in a combat setting. Once conventional treatment protocols for exsanguinating hemorrhage have been exhausted and no medical evacuation platform is available, a nonconventional method of treatment to consider is a fresh whole blood (FWB) transfusion. ⋯ While the ultimate outcome was death in this case report, the patient arrived to a surgical team 15 hours after his injury, alert and oriented. In this scenario, FWB transfusion gave this patient the best chance of survival.