Photo Credit: RossHelen

The following is a summary of “Use of Esmarch bandage does not increase peripheral vein size in healthy volunteers: A randomized clinical trial,” published in the September 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine by Paterson et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the efficacy of distal-to-proximal application of an Esmarch bandage in improving vein size and ease of ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous (PIV) cannulation in patients with difficult landmark-guided IV access in the Emergency Department.

They compared basilic vein size under ultrasound with an Esmarch bandage and a standard IV tourniquet (“tourniquet + Esmarch”) to using a standard IV tourniquet alone. Participant discomfort with the tourniquet + Esmarch was also compared to that with the standard IV tourniquet alone.

The results showed no difference in basilic vein size between the 2 groups, with a mean diameter of 6.0 ± 1.5 mm in the tourniquet + Esmarch group and 6.0 ± 1.4 mm in the control group, P=0.89. The discomfort score (from 0 to 10) was different between the groups, with a mean discomfort score of 2.1 in the tourniquet + Esmarch group and 1.1 in the standard IV tourniquet alone group (P< 0.001).

They concluded that an Esmarch bandage usage does not increase basilic vein size in healthy volunteers but was linked with a slight increase in discomfort.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675724002985