Military medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Assessing the Current Generation of Tourniquets.
Tourniquet application is an urgent life-saving procedure. Previous studies demonstrated several drawbacks in tourniquet design and application methods that limit their efficacy; among them, loose application of the device before windlass twisting is a main pitfall. A new generation of modern combat tourniquets was developed to overcome these pitfalls. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three new tourniquet designs: the CAT Generation 7 (CAT7), the SAM Extremity Tourniquet (SAM-XT), and the SOF Tactical Tourniquet Wide (SOFTT-W) as well as its correlation to the degree of slack. ⋯ Both SAM-XT and CAT7 demonstrated a better pressure profile and hemorrhage control rate compared to SOFTT-W, with no significant difference between the two. The better outcome measures were strongly correlated to less slack.