OBJECTIVE To describe risks for, and microbiology and antimicrobial resistance patterns of, war trauma associated infections from Operation Iraqi Freedom. BACKGROUND : The invasion of Iraq resulted in casualties from high-velocity gunshot, shrapnel, and blunt trauma injuries as well as burns. Infectious complications of these unique war trauma injuries have not been described since the 1970s....

An 86-year-old World War I veteran developed an angiosarcoma at the site of a war wound. The tumour developed in relation to one of several metal grenade fragments. The tumour cells have been shown to contain blood coagulation factor VIII antigen and have features of endothelial cells on electron microscopy. The patient is claimed to be the last soldier dying of wounds sustained during that war...

" I am accustomed to say in speaking of limb injuries ' Do not think of the wound, think of the limb below it.^ Endeavour to minimise the crop of cripples which this war will bring forth.' Everything possible must be done to prevent stiff joints, atrophied, paralysed, glued-together muscles, lengthened tendons, loss of grasp, dropped hands and dropped feet. Later, we shall have war hospitals wh...

During the First World War and the Second World War more than 80 % of wounded persons had injuries of upper or lower limbs. In the recent war in the Former Yugoslavia the percentage of persons with these injuries was above 80%. Each war is also characterized by the high percentage of wounded persons with amputations of upper or lower extremities. These amputations occurred mostly in the cases o...

I N general, traumatic wound therapy in civilians foIIows military practice. After WorId War II it was inevitabIe that the war time management of abdominal wounds should carry over into the peace time emergency rooms and operating theaters. The miIitary practice of routineIy performing earIy expIoration was based on the almost uniformly fatal outcome of non-operative treatment of patients with ...

The aim of this commentary is to discuss potential clinical implications of introducing resilience-building interventions into care for veterans who are living with a war wound. Some war veterans are expected to live with a wound upon discharge from an active military role and also to fit into civilian life. These lifestyle adjustments can tax the person's coping abilities and in that context m...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are crucial in the inflammatory and remodeling phases of wound healing. We previously reported the correlation between pro-inflammatory cytokines and timing of successful combat-wound closure. We now extend our studies to investigate the correlation between wound-remodeling MMP expression and wound healing. METHODS Thirty-eight wounds in 25 patients...

When penicillin became widely available during the second world war, it was a medical miracle, rapidly vanquishing the biggest wartime killer--infected wounds. Discovered initially by a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, in 1896, and then rediscovered by Scottish physician Alexander Fleming in 1928, the product of the soil mold Penicillium crippled many types of disease-causing bacteria. ...

Gunshots are one of the most common modes of deaths and injuries among young Americans in the post-World War II era [1]. The most effective way to prevent firearm injuries is to remove guns from the home and community [1,2]. High rates of injury and death from firearms in United States (US) are in stark contrast to the cities with no or few cases. This difference is most likely related to firea...

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are the most prevalent chronic wounds in western countries with a heavy socioeconomic impact. Compression therapy is the etiologic treatment of VLU but until now no wound dressing has been shown to be more effective than another. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a new dressing in the management of VLU. Adult patients presenting a noninfected VLU and r...