We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App




Improved Battlefield Care Decreases Combat Mortality

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 16 Apr 2019
Print article
Increased use of tourniquets, blood transfusions, and speedier prehospital transport time accounted for 44.2% of the total mortality reduction seen over time in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a new study.

Researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (MRMC; Fort Detrick, MD, USA), the U.S. Defense Health Agency (DHA; Falls Church, VA, USA), the University of Texas Health Science Center (San Antonio, USA), and other institutions conducted a retrospective analysis of data on all 56,763 U.S. casualties and soldiers injured in battle in Afghanistan and Iraq from October 2001 to December 31, 2017.

Casualty outcomes were compared over different periods of time with ratios of the use of tourniquets, blood transfusions, and transport to a surgical facility within 60 minutes. Main outcomes and measures were casualty status--alive, killed in action (KIA), or died of wounds (DOW)--and case-fatality rate (CFR). The researchers found that from early to later stages of the conflicts, CFR decreased in Afghanistan (from 20 to 8.6%), and in Iraq (from 20.4 to 10.1%). For critically injured casualties, survival increased in Afghanistan (from 2.2 to 39.9%) and in Iraq (from 8.9 to 32.9%).

In simulations using data from 23,699 individual casualties, without the interventions assessed, CFR would likely have been higher in Afghanistan and Iraq, equivalent to 3,672 additional deaths. Of these deaths, 44.2% were associated with the interventions studied: 12.9% with use of tourniquets, 23.8% for blood transfusions, and 7.5% for reduction in prehospital transport times. In all, a three-fold increase in survival among the most critically injured casualties was observed during the course of the conflicts. The study was published on March 27, 2019, in JAMA Surgery.

“Across 16 years of conflict, military trauma system advancements, namely, improvements in methods to control bleeding, replace blood, and reduce time to treatment, may be associated with increased survival of battle casualties,” concluded lead author Jeffrey Howard, PhD, of UTHSCSA, and colleagues. “More critically injured casualties reached surgical care, with increased survival, implying improvements in prehospital and hospital care.”

Related Links:
U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command
U.S. Defense Health Agency
University of Texas Health Science Center

Gold Member
Real-Time Diagnostics Onscreen Viewer
GEMweb Live
Gold Member
POC Blood Gas Analyzer
Stat Profile Prime Plus
Silver Member
Wireless Mobile ECG Recorder
NR-1207-3/NR-1207-E
New
Critical Care Trolley
CCT-PX

Print article

Channels

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: The living replacement knee will be tested in clinical trials within five years (Photo courtesy of ARPA-H)

Living Knee Replacement to Revolutionize Osteoarthritis Treatment

Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent type of arthritis, characterized by the progressive deterioration of cartilage, or the protective tissue covering the bone ends, resulting in pain, stiffness, and impaired... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The newly-launched solution can transform operating room scheduling and boost utilization rates (Photo courtesy of Fujitsu)

Surgical Capacity Optimization Solution Helps Hospitals Boost OR Utilization

An innovative solution has the capability to transform surgical capacity utilization by targeting the root cause of surgical block time inefficiencies. Fujitsu Limited’s (Tokyo, Japan) Surgical Capacity... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The new eye-safe laser technology can diagnose traumatic brain injury (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Novel Diagnostic Hand-Held Device Detects Known Biomarkers for Traumatic Brain Injury

The growing need for prompt and efficient diagnosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI), a major cause of mortality globally, has spurred the development of innovative diagnostic technologies.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.