Tour′ni-quet.
（Surgical.) An instrument for compressing an artery in amputations. The invention of Morelli, 1674, modified by other distinguished surgeons. Also used in compressing aneurisms and tumors. See Fig. 212, page 103. The screw-tourniquet was invented by Petit of France, 1718. The form now in common use, an improvement on that of Petit, was patented by Savigny of London in 1800. Improvements have also been made by Nuck, Verduc, Monro, and others. The heroes before Troy had one field physician, but in general the soldiers of the armies of the ancients, or sympathizing females, gave what attention they could to the wounded. In the Roman army each cohort had a physician. The first trace of [2604] field-hospitals is in the sixth century. The convention of Ratisbon, 742, ordered that every army should have a corps of chaplains, and every colonel a confessor, but does not refer to a medical staff. Gustavus Adolphus appointed four surgeons to a regiment. The essential parts of a tourniquet are a pad, which is compressed upon the severed artery above the point of division, and a band, by which it is tightly held to the limb. a (Fig. 6570) is Tiemann's direct-pressure tourniquet. Both sides of the pad are free from pressure, so as not to stop the circulation of the venous blood. b, Petit's spiral tourniquet. c, United States Army field-tourniquet. d, Valentine Mott's tourniquet. f, Lawrence's eye-tourniquet. e, tourniquet by Professor Esmarch of Kiel, particularly adapted for operations, as necrotomy, in which a great effusion of blood is to be apprehended. The lower portion of the limb is enveloped in oiled silk, to prevent soiling the bandage, and an elastic rubber bandage is then tightly wrapped around the lower part of the limb, forcing the blood out of the vessels. Above the termination of the bandage, an india-rubber cord is wound four or five times around the limb, and its two ends are joined by a hook upon one entering a link of the chain attached to the other. In order to perform the operation, the oiled silk and bandage are removed; when completed, the rubber cord is slowly unwound, and any small arteries which may have remained unnoticed, tied. This tourniquet can be adjusted to any portion of the limb, and the location of the principal arteries need not be considered. The compression of the soft parts and arteries by the rubber tubing is so complete that no blood can enter the bandaged portion of the limb.
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| Tourniquets. |
