Papers Presented to the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society—Winter MeetingUpper Extremity Vascular Injury: A Current In-Theater Wartime Report from Operation Iraqi Freedom
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
The evolution of extremity vascular injury treatment is intimately related to experience obtained during military conflict. From routine ligation and amputation in the World Wars through the rapid evacuation and successful in-theater use of autogenous reconstruction during Korea and Vietnam, these struggles have provided models for improvement in revascularization and limb salvage.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 The recent operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) embody the first expanded U.S.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
During 12 consecutive months, from 1 September 2004 through 31 August 2005, 2,473 battle-related injuries were evaluated at the central level III [332nd Expeditionary Medical Group (EMDG)/Air Force Theater Hospital] facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq (Fig. 1). The 332nd EMDG is the first Air Force theater hospital since the Vietnam War. All theater U.S. medical evacuation occurred via Balad Air Base and the 332nd EMDG. Thus, all injured force movement flowed either directly into the 332nd EMDG or
Incidence and Distribution of UE Vascular Injury
During the year-long study period 2,473 battle-related injuries were evaluated at the 332nd EMDG. There were 163 major vascular injures identified, for a rate of 6.6%. The anatomic distribution of major vascular injury is illustrated in Figure 3A, with 126 of the injuries occurring in extremities where limb salvage was attempted. Of these, 43 (34% of extremity vascular injuries, 1.7% of all battle-related injuries) were in the upper extremity (Fig. 3B). Over half (n = 26, 60%) of UE injuries
DISCUSSION
OIF represents the first sizeable U.S. military conflict since Vietnam and, as such, provides an opportunity to revisit vascular injury management during time of war. This report uses the Balad Vascular Registry to depict the in-theater experience with UE vascular injury at the 332nd EMDG/Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq, from September 2004 through August 2005. The development of FSTs and graded echelons of care in conjunction with ever-maturing damage control maneuvers and
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Long-term functional outcomes of upper extremity civilian vascular trauma
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2023, Journal of Surgical ResearchMajor vascular traumas to the neck, upper limbs, and chest: Clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, and management strategies
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Presented at the Sixteenth Annual Winter Meeting of the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society, Park City, UT, January 27–29, 2006.
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Defense or other departments of the U.S. government.