Medical Surveillance Monthly Report (MSMR). Volume 11, Number 1, January 2005
Abstract
Historically, during both peace and war, acute traumatic injuries have been leading causes of hospitalizations, lost duty time, disabilities, and deaths among members of the U.S. Armed Forces and others. 1 A relatively small but significant proportion of all severe traumatic injuries result in major extremity amputations which require lifelong therapeutic and rehabilitative care. For example, during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, approximately 1.2- 1.4% of all U.S. service members wounded in action sustained major limb amputations; and in 1996 in the United States, the incidence of limb loss due to trauma was estimated as 5.86 per 100,000. Since October 2001, the U.S. military has conducted combat operations, primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq, as part of the global war on terrorism. During the operations, many service members received severe traumatic injuries from conventional military weapons (e.g., small arms, grenades; mortar, artillery, and rocket rounds); improvised explosive devices, mines, and booby traps; and accidents (e.g., motor vehicle, aircraft). Because of improvements in force protection equipment, medical evacuation procedures, and life saving medical care, many severely injured service members, who may have died in earlier wars/ conflicts, survived their severe injuries with significant disabilities, including amputations. This report summarizes frequencies and types of traumatic amputations of lower and upper extremities and demographic and military characteristics of service members affected by them during the 15-year period from 1990 through 2004.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA496436
Entities
Organizations
- Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center