The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American) 84:1221-1234 (2002)
© 2002 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
Blast and Fragment Injuries of the Musculoskeletal System
Dana C. Covey, Captain, Medical Corps, United States Navy
Investigation performed at the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery, United States Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan, and the Department
of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,
Bethesda, Maryland
Captain Dana C. Covey, Medical Corps, United States Navy Department
of Orthopaedic Surgery, United States Naval Hospital Okinawa, PSC
482, Box 2563, FPO AP 96362-2563. E-mail address: coveydc{at}oki10.med.navy.mil
Please address requests for reprints to D.C. Covey.
In support of the research or preparation of this manuscript,
the author received grants or outside funding from the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Award for Excellence in Military Medicine and
from the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Foundation. The author did
not receive payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement
to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial
entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits
to any research fund, foundation, educational institution, or other
charitable or nonprofit organization with which the author is affiliated
or associated.
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and
do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department
of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.
Abstract
Blast and fragment injuries of the musculoskeletal system
are the most frequently encountered wounds in modern warfare.
Most injuries to the musculoskeletal system involve so-called
secondary blast injuries in which casing fragments and other debris
become flying projectiles.
Nonoperative treatment of selected wounds caused by small-fragment
debris has been successful but remains controversial.
Successful surgical treatment depends on meticulous wound débridement,
with excision of nonviable tissue and foreign material likely to
cause infection; adequate drainage; and delayed closure.
Advanced internal fixation techniques used in modern trauma centers
to treat predominantly blunt trauma may not be appropriate for care
of orthopaedic war wounds in a field setting.

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