But if you sever the limb, they fix it then. What is so different about an artery than a vein.
In: Biology
Arteries are repaired all the time. The problem isn’t the repair, the problem is getting to the tear/cut in time to stop the blood loss. An arterial vein is so large that blood loss, shock and death can occur in literal seconds if not stopped immediately. Tourniquets, blood clotting agents, and arterial clamps applied immediately and with alot of pressure is really about the few methods that can be used, but again it has to be immediate depending on the nature of the cut/tear.
You can and there are several methods to do it. It’s very bad if they’re cut, because they have far more blood being pumped through them rather than a vein or capillary. A severed artery could cause mortal blood loss in minutes.
You can. Three things happen when a major artery is cut:
1. You exsanguinate – essentially losing enough of blood to affect brain and heart function.
2. The cut end of the artery retracts -arteries have muscular walls – so identifying the end may require a larger cut. The artery continues to bleed into the soft tissue making it even more difficult to identify it.
3. Repairing the artery with sutures means temporarily clamping it or bypassing it – both of which require skills not normally taught to primary trauma responders.
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