Maire,
I'm not aware of any published trials on timing of digital tourniquets but the following websites may be of some use (even though they're mainly concerning arm/leg tourniquets) -
http://www.anesthesia.org/professional/hm/hm_art_tourq.html
http://www.orthoteers.co.uk/Nrujp~ij33lm/Orthtourniquet.htm
And I found the following foreboding article -
Haas F, Moshammer H, Schwarzl F. Iatrogenic necrosis of the large toe after tourniquet placement--clinical course and reconstruction. Chirurg. 1999 May;70(5):608-10.
We present a necrosis of the big toe in a 20-year-old woman with an ingrowing toenail after wedge-shaped excision in the big toe. The reason for the necrosis was a tourniquet that was left in place after the operation. The ischemia, which lasted for 2 days, resulted in subtotal necrosis of the big toe. Six weeks after the operation the patient underwent microsurgical reconstruction. This is a report on the treatment of this complication from the beginning. Early surgical intervention is advocated.
I guess the best advice would be (quoting the first weblink's section on tourniquet time) "There is NO SAFE MAXIMUM TOURNIQUET TIME ! The safest time is the shortest time."
Best of luck,
Lee Murphy
--
___________________________________________________________
Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com
http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was distributed by the Podiatry JISCmail list server
All opinions and assertions contained in this message are those of
the original author. The listowner(s) and the JISCmail service take
no responsibility for the content.
to leave the Podiatry email list send a message containing the text
leave podiatry
to [log in to unmask]
Please visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk for any further information
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|