Clotting bandage

[arcticpenguin]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/01/31/combat.medics/index.html

A new bandage contains clotting agents to help stop bleeding. Its being touted for its potential battlefield use.

[BillyJoe]

A few questions.

Are they promoting this for venous bleeding?
To answer my own question, probably not. A firm pressure bandage will stop any venous bleeding without the need for clotting agents.

Is it just for arterial bleeding then?
If so, are there any studies to show the superiority of a clotting bandage to a simple torniquet?

Are there any side-effects of a using as bandage impregnated with clotting factors? For example, deep vein thrombosis or intravascular coagulation?

[sickstan]

It would be useful to know how this bandage works. Without some details I'm not going to be very helpful in guessing what the potential benefits are.

There are 3 major clotting processes. The first is almost always platelet aggregation. The other two are the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways for fibrinous clot activation. In addition, there are constant anti-thrombotic processes ocurring as well. I wonder which of these processes are being affected by the bandage.

[xouper]

bump

[Soapy Sam]

Presumably these factors are organic and therefore subject to decay? Shelf life?