WOUNDS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 485 



HEMOSTASIA, 



By this term is meant the checking of the flow of blood. It may be 

 accomplished by several methods, such as compress bandages, torsion, 

 hot iron, and ligatures. The heat from a hot iron will cause the im- 

 mediate clotting of the blood in the vessels, and this clot is further 

 supported by the production of a scab, or crust, over the portion 

 seared. The iron should be at a red heat. If at a white heat, the 

 tissue is charred, which makes it brittle and the bleeding is liable to 

 be renewed. If the iron is at a black heat, the tissue will stick to the 

 iron and will pull awaj^ from the surface of the wound. Cold water 

 and ice bags quickly stop capillary bleeding, while hot water is pref- 

 erable in more excessive hemorrhages. Some drugs, called styptics, 

 possess the power of contracting the walls of blood vessels and also 

 of clotting the blood. A solution of the chlorid of iron placed on a 

 wound alone or by means of cotton drenched in the liquid produces a 

 rapid and hard clot. Tannic acid, alum, acetic acid, alcohol, and oil 

 of turpentine are all more or less active in this respect. To check 

 bleeding from large vessels compression may be adopted. When it is 

 rapid and dangerous and from an artery, the fingers may be used for 

 pressing between the wound and the heart (digital compression), but 

 if from a vein, the pressure should be exerted on the other side of the 

 wound. Tourniquet may also be used by passing a strap around the 

 part and tightening after placing a pad over the hemorrhage. The 

 rubber ligature has now replaced the tourniquet and is bound tightly 

 around the limb to arrest the bleeding. Tampons, such as cotton, tow, 

 or oakum, may be packed tightly in the wound and then sewed up. 

 After remaining there for twenty-four or forty -eight hours they are 

 removed. Bleeding may sometimes be easily checked by passing a 

 pin under the vessel and by taking a horsehair and forming a figure 

 8 by running it above and below the pin, thus causing pressure on the 

 vessel. Torsion is the twisting of the blood vessel until the walls 

 come together and form a barrier to the flow of blood. It may be ac- 

 complished by the fingers, forceps, or by running a pin through the 

 vessel, turning it several times, and then running the point into the 

 tissue to keep it in a fixed position. 



Ligation is the third method for stopping a hemorrhage. The 

 blood vessel should be seized with the artery forceps, a clean thread 

 of silk passed around it, and tied about one-half inch from its end. 

 The silk should be sterilized by placing it in an antiseptic solution so 

 as not to impede the healing process or cause blood poisoning or 

 lockjaw, which often follows the ligation of a vein with unsterilized 

 material. Sometimes it will be impossible to reach the bleeding 

 vessel, so it is necessary to pass the ligature around a mass of tissue 

 which includes the blood vessel. Ligation is the most useful method 



