Robert Stanley Dirksing

Evaluation of venous distension device: potential aid for intravenous cannulation.

A device designed to augment venous filling by applying a vacuum to the upper extremity during tourniquet application was evaluated. Ten healthy adult male volunteers with clinical normovolemia were studied for changes in forearm volume and dorsal hand vein turgor during use of an elastic tubing tourniquet, a blood pressure cuff tourniquet, and a vacuum-assisted cuff tourniquet. Use of the device for 30 seconds was not associated with petechia formation and resulted in a significant increase in venous turgor, as measured by an ophthalmologic tonometer, in comparison to the other tourniquet techniques (P less than .005). Use for 60 seconds was associated with mild to moderate subjective discomfort in all volunteers and petechiae in all nine white volunteers. All petechiae resolved in three days. Venous engorgement as reflected by volume displacement was significantly greater for the vacuum device and blood pressure cuff tourniquet combination than other techniques at 30 and 60 seconds of tourniquet application (P less than .005). Brief application of a vacuum to the arm during tourniquet use increases venous turgor and engorgement in normovolemic volunteers.