Bone and Soft Tissue Trauma Research at the USAISR

Since its establishment in 1943, the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) has conducted research focused on improving the surgical care given to soldiers. Just as our predecessors addressed the unacceptably high impact of thermal injury on combat casualties, the Bone and Soft Tissue Research Team focuses research on combat casualties by examining the epidemiology of combat wounds to identify needed improvements in combat casualty care. This paper provides an overview of the bone and soft tissue trauma research currently being conducted at the USAISR and introduces the available combat casualty data from recent conflicts that were used to identify areas where research can achieve maximum impact on reducing the morbidity and mortality rates of combat casualties. Pesented at the RTO HFM Symposium on Combat Casualty Care in Ground Based Tactical Situations: Trauma Technology and Emergency Medical Procedures, held in St. Pete Beach, FL on 16-18 August 2004. Published in RTO-MP-HFM-109. See also ADM001795. The original document contains color images.