Warfare Vascular Injuries.

Vascular injuries as a part of combat injuries have been recorded since times immemorial. Responsible for death due to exsanguination, the management of vascular injuries was ligation or amputation till the landmark Vietnam experience. The present day management has evolved with advances in modern technology and may start at the battlefield with the application of a tourniquet with the definitive treatment continuing beyond the combat operation theatres. A basic understanding of both blunt and penetrating vascular injuries will help minimize mortality and morbidity.

Training in Trauma Management.

Considerable improvements have occurred in the care of injured patients since the times of World War I and II. This has been brought about not only by technological advances but also due to improved training of doctors and nurses in providing trauma care. Important elements of combat trauma training are realism, human-specific injuries and treatments, volume of trauma exposure, and team building. In all modern armies training is imparted using human simulators and mannequins, human cadavers, occasionally live animals but more often using animal tissues. Worldwide trauma training courses are mandatory for both paramedics and medical officers. There is a need to set up an organised system of trauma training in India and we, in the Armed Forces have to capitalize on the wealth of combat and non-combat trauma experience, in setting up such courses.

War Wounds - Changing Concepts.

The accepted standard treatment of war wounds through the last century has been debridement and delayed primary closure. However, recently, there has been a renewed Interest In primary closure of these wounds. 1481 war wounds were managed by the authors and out of 789 soft tissue injuries, 389 (47%) were closed primarily (group 1) after meticulous debridement and 220 (28%) underwent delayed primary closure (group 2). The infection rate in group 1 was 4.87% compared to 6.36% in group 2. The average hospital stay in group 1 was 15 days, significantly shorter by 10 days than in group 2. In the war zone both time and resources are at a premium and primary closure of selected wounds offers a better alternative to delayed primary closure.