MEDIA ALERT: March 8, 2010

For more information, contact:

Battlefield Orthopaedics: Exploring the Burden of Injury for Wounded Warriors
Experts discuss long-term implications of war injuries at media briefing

NEW ORLEANS—About 70 percent of the war wounds sustained are musculoskeletal injuries, with 7 percent of those with major extremity wounds also sustaining loss of limbs. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) at its 2010 Annual Meeting will host a media briefing on Thursday, March 11, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Room 206 of the Morial Convention Center, to explore the long-term implications of war injuries and burden of injury for our wounded warriors. 

“The burden of these war injuries is truly daunting,” said Andrew N. Pollak, MD, who will serve as the briefing moderator.  “We have an important responsibility to conduct research into the best ways to treat these problems as to preserve limbs, limit disability and improve quality of life for our wounded warriors.”

Dr. Pollak added, “the area of war injury research, particularly for limb injuries, has already produced a great deal of information about the best ways to prevent death from blood loss, risk of infection and ways to limit some complications after serious limb injuries.  Information presented at this briefing will highlight the overall significant burden these injuries represent to our military, and some of the long-term consequences of those injuries.”

Paul J. Dougherty, MD, an associate professor and the orthopaedic surgery residency program director at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, will discuss his study on the long-term impact of multiple limb loss due to battle injuries. His research found that service members with multiple limb loss due to war trauma have age-related changes, such as arthritis and a decreased level of function that occur over time. Read the abstract.

Additional panelists include Capt. Dana C. Covey, MD; Col. James R. Ficke, MD; and Josh Wenke, Ph.D., who will discuss the following topics:

• Advances in war injury research, treatment and host nation care, specifically the impact of injury on battlefield retirement.
• The impact of non-battle injuries on retirement.
• New data describing the burden of war injuries.

###

About AAOS

AAOS on Facebook and Twitter

Orthoinfo.org