Battlefield extremity injuries in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Extremity injuries in soldiers during the conflict in Mali: experience of Togo Level two Hospital

“…In our experience, all amputations are performed in an emergency setting in regards to these recommendations. Extremity fractures (29.6 %) and soft tissue injuries (20.8 %) were our most frequently encountered WRIs, as also reported in the literature [5,15]. To support patients with such lesions, TL2H has sufficient material resources, as required by United Nations (UN) standards and similar to the French military forward surgical team [19].…”

“…In our series, 62.92 % of wounded patients sustained LEIs and 37.08 % UEIs. For some, LEIs (37-42 %) are generally more common than UEIs (27-29 %) [13,14], although for others, proportions of upper-extremity injuries (UEIs) and LEIs were almost equivalent (47.3 % vs. 43.2 %) [15]. This random distribution of injuries may be explained by the blastinjury model, which is divided into three levels [16,17].…”

Variation of gunshot injury patterns in mortality associated with human rights abuses and armed conflict: an exploratory study

“…On the other hand, the distribution of injuries in contemporary conflicts is determined by the context of warfare (urban versus non-urban) and the use of protective armour [11][12][13][14][68][69][70][71][72].…”

“…In combat operations, fragmenting ammunition is the first cause of mortality/morbidity to both combatants and non-combatants [11][12][13][14][68][69][70][71][72]. In contrast, in most human rights abuses within the context of armed conflict, gunshot injuries tend to be the most common mechanism of injury [15].…”

Identifying obstacles to return to duty in severely injured combat-related servicemembers with amputation

“…There has been a substantial number of amputations among U.S. servicemembers involved in OIF, OEF, and OND [3][4]10,[12][13]. Depending on severity, treatments rendered, and rehabilitation, many servicemembers are unable to return to Active Duty status following amputation [3][4]9].…”