Effectiveness of use of local hemostatic agents for external bleeding by visiting ambulance teams

Abstract

The alternative use of local hemostatic agents based on chitosan is the gentlest method of stopping bleeding, with minimal damaging effect on tissues, in comparison with the imposition of a hemostatic tourniquet or a pressure bandage.Goal. To evaluate the effectiveness of temporary stopping of external bleeding with the help of local hemostatic agents based on chitosan in powder and bandage forms and to determine the expediency of their use by visiting ambulance teams.Materials and methods. Specialists of the field teams of Ambulance and Medical Emergency Care Station n. a. A. S. Puchkov (Moscow, Russia) used local hemostatic agents based on chitosan in the form of a powder, a bandage in comparison with traditional hemostatic agents (a hemostatic tourniquet to stop arterial bleeding and a pressure bandage). The criteria for hemostasis were the absence of wetting of the pressure bandage and the absence of the need for a hemostatic tourniquet.Results. 103 patients were included in the main group, and 106 patients with arterial and venous bleeding from wounds of various localization were included in the control group. The age of patients in the compared groups ranged from 18 to 94 years. When using hemostatic powder and bandage, primary hemostasis was achieved in 99 patients in 96.1 % of cases, compared with the control group in 76 patients in 67.9 % of cases.Conclusions. Simplicity and ease of use, the speed of stopping bleeding and achieving results, as well as the absence of the need for special skills among specialists in the use of hemostatic agents, improved the quality of emergency medical care for patients with bleeding and allowed them to be recommended as a dressing for emergency medical care.