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Injuries from explosions: physics, biophysics, pathology, and required research focus
Howard R Champion1, John B Holcomb, Lee Ann Young
1Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. hrchampion@aol.com
The Journal of Trauma
|May 12, 2009
Summary
Explosion injuries, a leading cause of battlefield death, require better medical understanding and research. Focusing on penetrating fragment wounds and comprehensive strategies improves patient outcomes in military and civilian settings.
Area of Science:
- Trauma Surgery
- Blast Injury Research
- Military Medicine
Background:
- Explosions cause complex injuries, leading to battlefield deaths and terrorist attacks.
- Civilian medical knowledge of explosion injuries is limited, necessitating broader research.
- Understanding these injuries is crucial for prevention, mitigation, and consequence management.
Purpose of the Study:
- Provide insight into explosion injury complexities.
- Target research efforts toward primary prevention, mitigation, and consequence management.
- Enhance medical community knowledge for acute patient needs.
Main Methods:
- Review of cited works using MeSH terms.
- Analysis of combat trauma databases.
- Inclusion of authors' surgical experience in Iraq.
Main Results:
- Survivable explosion injuries are primarily penetrating fragment wounds.
- Blast physics mechanisms are substantiated by data from Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Findings support targeted funding for research, training, and protective equipment.
Conclusions:
- A comprehensive approach includes primary prevention, injury mitigation, and consequence management.
- Recalibrating medical research focus will improve explosion injury management.
- Improved management has significant implications for civilian and military healthcare.
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