Tounicots

Hyperkalemia and acute renal failure are the life-threatening complications of crush injuries. Vigilant prehospital emergency care is vital to reduce the complications. We report and discuss 2 cases diagnosed as crush syndrome after earthquake, in order to illustrate the value of prehospital application of tourniquets to prevent hyperkalemia accompanying extremity crush injuries. The victim in case 1 died of hyperkalemia shortly after extrication without tourniquet. The prehospital tourniquet had been used to avoid uncontrollable hemorrhage and release of toxic metabolites into the circulation in case 2...