Signs and Diagnosis of Arterial Bleeding, First Aid and Prognosis

From this article you will learn: what is the arterial bleeding, what is it dangerous for human life. Methods of stopping bleeding of different locations.

Article Contents:

• Types arterial bleeding symptoms
• Diagnostics
• first help forecast

arterial bleeding called exit of blood from the arteries( the blood vessels with high blood pressure) into the external medium, hollow organ or body cavity, the developing damage at their walls. This is the most dangerous type of bleeding, which can very quickly lead to a huge blood loss and death of the victim.

Methods for its termination depend on the location of the affected vessel. Not always even an experienced doctor can do this in the field. The final stop of blood flow from the arteries is performed by surgeons, and in case of damage to large vessels - vascular surgeons.

Location of arteries in the body. Click on the picture to enlarge

Types of arterial bleeding

All arterial( and venous) bleedings are divided into:

easiest to detect external arterial bleeding in which the blood having a bright red color, extends outwardly from the wound pulsating stream or jet of high velocity. If a large artery( for example, the femoral artery) is damaged, it can be ejected under pressure above the skin surface in synchronism with the pulse.

Click on the picture to enlarge

It is much harder to recognize the signs of arterial bleeding if it is internal. At its obvious type, the patient may get vomiting with bright blood, a black tar-like stool, the discharge of bright blood from the external genital tract or with urine. With the latent internal bleeding, the symptoms depend on its localization, the degree of hemorrhage and the damage to which organs caused it. The release of blood beyond the boundaries of the circulatory system irritates tissues, causing inflammation and pain.

clinical picture of internal bleeding, depending on the location:

Localization	clinical picture
Intracranial	may be caused by trauma or rupture of the aneurysm. Often causes a headache, but can cause a violation of consciousness, muscle weakness in one half of the body, impaired speech, loss of vision.
Intraperitoneal	Causes stomach pain. With a large blood loss in the patient there is an increase in the abdomen in size, pallor of the skin, general weakness, dizziness, dyspnea and other symptoms of falling blood pressure. Sometimes, with intra-abdominal bleeding around the navel or on the sides of the abdomen, hemorrhages appear. In
	pleural cavity can cause chest pain, increases during breathing, dyspnea symptoms
and blood pressure drop in the muscle and other soft tissue	Symptoms include pain at the site of bleeding, difficulty of movement in the affected area, sensitivity deterioration.

Strictly speaking, it is sometimes impossible to distinguish internal arterial bleeding from the venous blood at a prehospital level. Yes, it is not necessary, since a patient with such symptoms needs urgent hospitalization in the hospital, no improvised methods to stop bleeding will fail. Sometimes only correctly and timely medical assistance can save a person's life.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of external bleeding is established without any additional examination, based on the presence of a wound and the characteristic clinical manifestations. However, all patients with any type of bleeding must undergo a laboratory examination, including a general blood test and blood group determination.

With internal blood flow, the following diagnostic methods are used to identify the source:

Computer tomography. Click on the photo to enlarge

First aid

First of all, when providing assistance to a victim who has signs of arterial bleeding, you need to make sure of his and his safety, and also call an ambulance. The final stop of the blood flow is carried out only in a medical institution by experienced doctors.

Help with external bleeding

First aid almost always has the same principles. The most important is its stop:

• Protect yourself from diseases by wearing medical or other latex gloves. If not, use several layers of gauze or bandage, plastic bags or other waterproof material. If there is not even this, you can press the injured person with his own hand.
• Open the damage site by taking off or ripping clothes to find the source of bleeding.
• Place a sterile napkin or clean cloth over the wound surface, covering it completely, and push hard against it with your hand. Hold this pressure continuously for 5 minutes. This technique allows you to stop most of the bleeding. Direct pressure squeezes the lumen of the affected vessels and helps the natural mechanisms of blood clotting to stop it. Do not remove the blood-soaked bandage, you need to put one more on top of it.
• If blood flows from the hand or leg, lift the affected area above the level of the heart to reduce blood flow at the time of direct pressure.
• So that you can pay attention to other injuries or injuries, put a pressure bandage on the bandage after direct pressing.
• If the flow continues, press the artery at a special point to slow the blood flow during direct pressure on the wound. These points are located in places where the artery passes close to the skin and bone, to which it can be pressed. To stop bleeding from the lower part of the arm, you can press the brachial artery to the bone along the inner surface of the biceps muscle. To stop the flow of blood from the leg, you can press the femoral artery in the groin. However, most people without medical education do not know or at a critical moment forget where these points are.
• Another method of stopping bleeding from the artery of the arm or leg is by applying a turnstile or harness around the limb above the injury site. It should be noted that in many countries this method is allowed only for people with medical education. An exception are the military, who have special harnesses in their medicine kits. Improvised turnstiles, in addition to creating potential problems( damage to vessels and nerves, the need for limb amputation), most often can not adequately squeeze the arteries located in the thickness of the limb muscles. As a result, the arterial bleeding can not be stopped, and the venous blood flow is intensified due to a violation of the venous outflow of blood.

First aid for bleeding. Click on the photo to enlarge

Help with internal bleeding

Internal bleeding to stop with first aid is almost impossible. Before the arrival of an ambulance, follow these tips:

Forecast

The prognosis for arterial hemorrhage depends on many factors, the most important of which is the degree of blood loss and localization of damage. With timely first aid and proper treatment, most patients recover completely if they do not have other injuries affecting the prognosis.