A tourniquet is a device which is used to control the flow of blood to and/or from an extremity. The word tourniquet itself derives from the French verb tourner (to turn) and was first used by the eighteenth-century French surgeon Louis Petit describing the screw-like device he strapped to the thighs of patients undergoing leg amputations, to reduce blood loss. This article focuses on the use of arterial tourniquets. The arterial tourniquet is usually a pneumatic device consisting of an inflatable cuff connected to a compressed gas supply. The measurable and high pressures that such tourniquets can generate allow controlled arterial compression and distal circulatory stasis.

The most common use for such tourniquets is in surgical procedures on the extremities, where the tourniquet is of great value in optimizing operating conditions by creating a bloodless surgical field. Examples include joint replacements and the repair of tendons, nerves, and blood vessels.

Physiological effects of tour

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