Esmarch bandage (also known as Esmarch's bandage for surgical haemostasis or Esmarch's tourniquet) in its modern form is a narrow ( wide) soft rubber

bandage A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support for the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly on ...

that is used to expel venous blood from a limb (exsanguinate) that has had its arterial supply cut off by a tourniquet. The limb is often elevated as the elastic pressure is applied. The exsanguination is necessary to enable some types of delicate reconstructive surgery where bleeding would obscure the working area. A bloodless area is also required to introduce local anaesthetic agents for a regional nerve block. This method was first described by Augustus Bier in 1908. The original version was designed by

Friedrich von Esmarch Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch (9 January 1823 – 23 February 1908) was a German surgeon. He developed the Esmarch bandage and founded the ''Deutscher Samariter-Verein'', the predecessor of the ''Deutscher Samariter-Bund''. Life Esm ...

, professor of surgery at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and is generally used in

battlefield medicine Battlefield medicine, also called field surgery and later combat casualty care, is the treatment of wounded combatants and non-combatants in or near an area of combat. Medicine, Civilian medicine has been greatly advanced by procedures that were ...

. Esmarch himself had been surgeon general to the German army during the

Franco-German War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Jan ...

. It consisted of a three-sided piece of linen or cotton, the base measuring and the sides . It could be used folded or open, and applied in thirty-two different ways. An improved form was devised by

Bernhard von Langenbeck Bernhard Rudolf Konrad von Langenbeck (9 November 181029 September 1887) was a German surgeon known as the developer of Langenbeck's amputation and founder of '' Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery''. Early life and education He was born at Pading ...

later on. Esmarch bandages are also used by cardiac surgeons in delayed mediastinal closure for patients who have experienced certain complications post cardiac surgery (e.g. myocardial oedema or severe postoperative bleeding).

Soviet use

A pink-coloured variant of this medical tool was issued out to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

infantry as early as the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

. The Esmarch tourniquet did not function well due to how easily the rubber could stretch and the lack of means to provide pressure. There are many pictures of the Esmarch bandage, during the Afghanistan and Russian-Chechen Wars, being used to aid with the comfort of the firearm stock, or a supposed attempt to make it more easily accessible. However, the quality of the rubber, and the general properties of similar types of rubber result in problems of the materials becoming hard and brittle when exposed to heat and sand over multiple hours or days. They are also not suitable for repeated use, as they wear out quickly. Newer versions of this medical device, made in Russia for military or survival use, are orange and are made of more durable materials.

General references

* Medical dressings Military medicine German inventions {{medical-equipment-stub

Soviet use

See also

General references