Combat Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan

During the course of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, military orthopedic surgeons have made significant technical and philosophic changes in the treatment of musculoskeletal combat casualties. The widespread use of individual and vehicular body armor, evolution of enemy tactics to include its reliance on improvised explosive devices, and the effectiveness of treatment rendered at military treatment facilities have resulted in a large burden of complex orthopedic injuries. Combat Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan represents and recognizes the latest advances in musculoskeletal surgical care performed to treat today's US military servicemembers.

Editors LTC Brett D. Owens, MD and LTC Philip J. Belmont Jr., MD have brought together the leading military orthopedic surgeons to relay their clinical orthopedic surgery expertise, as well as to discuss how to provide optimal care for combat casualties both initially in theater and definitively at tertiary care facilities within the United States.

Combat Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan is divided into five sections, with the first being devoted to an overview of general topics. The second section covers scientific topics and their clinical application to musculoskeletal combat casualties. The final three sections are clinically focused on the upper extremity, lower extremity, and spine and pelvic injuries, with many illustrative case examples referenced throughout.

Most clinical chapters contain:

• Introduction/historical background
• Epidemiology
• Management in theater
• Definitive management
• Surgical techniques
• Outcomes
• Complications

Combat Orthopedic Surgery: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan will be the definitive academic record that represents how orthopedic surgeons currently manage and treat musculoskeletal combat casualties.

LTC Brett D. Owens, MD is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC and completed his internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Massachusetts and the John A. Feagin Jr. Sports Medicine Fellowship at West Point. He is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery (Orthopaedics) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He served as an orthopaedic surgeon with the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq and is currently Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery Service, Keller Army Hospital, West Point, New York.

LTC Philip J. Belmont Jr, MD is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He graduated from the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina and completed his internship and orthopaedic surgery residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. He is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery (Orthopaedics) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He served as an orthopaedic surgeon with the 228th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq and is currently the Chief of Adult Reconstruction and Program Director of the William Beaumont Army Medical Center/Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas.