Abstract
Infections of wounds have complicated the care of combat-related injuries throughout history.1,2 During the Vietnam War, there was a 3.69% early infection rate of 7106 upper extremity injuries and a 5.04% rate among 8838 lower extremity injuries, but this did not include the longitudinal care of the 68% of casualties that were evacuated out of Vietnam.3 A study of 84 open tibial shaft fractures evacuated from Vietnam to the United States revealed 1 of the 23 (4.3%) high-velocity wounds developed an infection, notably with Staphylococcus aureus, whereas 6 (9.8%) fractures associated with lower velocity injuries developed infections with Pseudomonas (3), S. aureus (2), and Aerobacter (1).4 Nine of 37 (24%) open fractures became infected in Operation Just Cause in Panama. 5.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Combat |
| Subtitle of host publication | Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Irag and Afghanistan |
| Publisher | CRC Press |
| Pages | 109-120 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781040141311 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781556429651 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2024 |