Abstract
Numerous techniques have been described with which to irrigate wounds. Some designed for use in theatre utilise specifically designed equipment whilst others are improvisations and modifications of equipment designed for other purposes.1 We have been using one such method, which allows controlled, directed administration of large quantities of saline under pressure or in a pulsatile fashion, which we feel appropriately for our location, resembles a bagpipe. A saline bag (akin to the reservoir bag of the bagpipe) connected to a Yankauer suction tube (the chanter) is held in the axilla between the lateral chest wall and the medial upper arm. This allows the flow rate to be controlled or pulsed by pressure exerted by abduction of the arm and the stream directed using the tube. The entire system has the advantage of being held with just one arm, leaving the other hand free. We feel this is a simple, elegant and easily reproducible method, using readily available materials, which can be used in trauma situations ‘in the field’.
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