10 Best Tourniquet Practices for Surgical Tourniquets in 2018

Best Tourniquet Practices

There are many types of tourniquet cuffs, instruments, and limb protection sleeves available for the clinicians. Due to common misconceptions and misinformation, it may be a challenge to select and use the most appropriate tourniquet technology for your patients. Here is our list of top 10 best tourniquet practices you need to know in order to provide the safest and most effective tourniquet use for optimum patient safety:

1. Perioperative staff should assess the patient preoperatively for potential contraindications and risks

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2. Select a personalized pneumatic tourniquet cuff that best matches an individual patient’s limb shape and size at the desired cuff location, and that meets all relevant FDA requirements.

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3. Select a sterile, disposable tourniquet cuff for procedures that require placement of a sterile tourniquet cuff near the operative site, or for use in contaminated surgical cases, or to prevent cross-contamination. For safety, disposable tourniquet cuffs must be discarded at the end of each procedure.

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4. Select a reusable tourniquet cuff when sufficient sterile draping is available to isolate the cuff from the sterile field. For safety, tourniquet cuffs designed by the manufacturer to be reusable multiple times must be thoroughly cleaned between each use, according to manufacturer’s instructions and established guidelines.

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5. The tourniquet cuff should be applied snugly at both distal and proximal edges around the patient’s limb at the desired cuff location.

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6. Use a limb protection sleeve matched specifically to the selected tourniquet cuff for additional safety, to further protect the skin and soft tissues underlying the cuff.

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Tourniquet cuff technology

7. To minimize the risk of pressure-related tourniquet injuries and soft tissue injuries, set the tourniquet instrument at a personalized tourniquet pressure based on each patient’s limb occlusion pressure (LOP).

Further reading:

8. To minimize the risk of time-related ischaemic injuries, tourniquet time should be monitored and minimized, consistent with the requirements of the surgical procedure.

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Safety considerations during use

9. Patient conditions should be monitored and documented before, during, and after the procedure.

Further reading:

10. To assure safe and accurate functioning of the entire tourniquet system, all components (including the instrument, cuffs, tubing, connectors and accessories) must be maintained and thoroughly tested on a regular basis according to manufacturer’s instructions and established guidelines.

Further reading:

Maintenance, cleaning, and reprocessing

Personalized tourniquet systems provide the safest and most effective tourniquet use for optimum patient safety by allowing and ensuring best tourniquet practices are followed.

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© Copyright 2023, J.A. McEwen
Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms of use

10 Best Tourniquet Practices for Surgical Tourniquets in 2018

Best Tourniquet Practices

1. Perioperative staff should assess the patient preoperatively for potential contraindications and risks

2. Select a personalized pneumatic tourniquet cuff that best matches an individual patient’s limb shape and size at the desired cuff location, and that meets all relevant FDA requirements.

5. The tourniquet cuff should be applied snugly at both distal and proximal edges around the patient’s limb at the desired cuff location.

6. Use a limb protection sleeve matched specifically to the selected tourniquet cuff for additional safety, to further protect the skin and soft tissues underlying the cuff.

7. To minimize the risk of pressure-related tourniquet injuries and soft tissue injuries, set the tourniquet instrument at a personalized tourniquet pressure based on each patient’s limb occlusion pressure (LOP).

8. To minimize the risk of time-related ischaemic injuries, tourniquet time should be monitored and minimized, consistent with the requirements of the surgical procedure.

9. Patient conditions should be monitored and documented before, during, and after the procedure.

10. To assure safe and accurate functioning of the entire tourniquet system, all components (including the instrument, cuffs, tubing, connectors and accessories) must be maintained and thoroughly tested on a regular basis according to manufacturer’s instructions and established guidelines.