This device, called the CAPP device, is made of 3 mountain bike tire tubes that are tied around a hemorrhaging woman's waist and legs to slow the flow of blood to the uterus. This would make it possible for midwives to add a bike pump and bicycle tire tubes to their kits to save lives.
Next steps involve clinical trials. NCT01497756 is the clinical trial ID number under the auspices of the University of New Mexico. The CAPP trial is slotted to last one year, ending in fall 2012.
Nancy Kerr and Mark Hauswald of Global Health Partnerships in the U.S. are creating circumferential abdominal-pelvic pressure (CAPP) devices to decrease blood flow to the pelvic organs and control postpartum hemorrhage. The devices are inexpensive, constructed using local materials such as bicycle tires, and can be made on-site in the developing world. With a grant from The Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations competition, Kerr and Hauswald will evaluate the use and acceptance of their devices in Nepal. The idea of using locally available supplies to create a low-tech but high-impact device is incredibly exciting.
Not much has been published on this device but one article appears here.
A similar device, the tightly fitted neoprene non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG)—such as the LifeWrap device—has been shown to decrease blood loss and improve survival rates from postpartum hemorrhage. Abdominal-pelvic pressure devices, themselves pneumatic anti-shock garments, have shown to be just as effective as the NASG at reducing bloodflow in the pelvic area. A 2010 study by Kerr and Hauswald published in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine showed that a device made using three bicycle tubes, placing one tube on each leg and one on the lower abdomen/pelvis, wrapping firmly with sheets, and inflating the tubes decreased blood flow to the pelvic area more than the NASG. Both devices decreased distal aortic blood flow, but the improvised garment made from tires and sheets decreased it by a larger margin.
The feasibility trial is NCT01497756 and will, within a year identify complications, if any, arising from the use of the CAPP.
