Two techniques for the control of cardiac bleeding

Two new techniques effectively control local bleeding from the heart during heart operations. Both act by achieving local tamponade of the bleeding but through different mechanisms. In the first, a glove containing a sponge is placed against the bleeding site to provide local pressure. In the second, application of focal, high vacuum suction causes forceful apposition of adjacent soft tissue. These methods have stopped bleeding in 7 patients in whom conventional methods failed.