The First World War and its influence on the development of orthopaedic surgery

By December 1914, overwhelming numbers of soldiers with infected musculoskeletal wounds had filled hospitals in France and Britain. Frequently initial management had been inadequate. In 1915, patients with orthopaedic wounds were segregated for the first time when Robert Jones established an experimental orthopaedic unit in Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool. In 1916 he opened the first of 17 orthopaedic centres in Britain to surgically treat and rehabilitate patients. Henry Gray from Aberdeen emerged as the leading authority in the management of acute musculoskeletal wounds in casualty clearing stations in France and Flanders. Gray had particular expertise in dealing with compound fractures of the femur for which he documented an 80% mortality rate in 1914-15.