Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective

The aim of this review is to introduce the progress in trauma surgery made during war. In the 16th century, Paré reintroduced ligature of arteries, which had been introduced by Celsus and Galen, instead of cauterization during amputation. Larrey, a surgeon in Napoleon’s military, adapted the “flying...

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Main Author: Kun Hwang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Korean Society of Traumatology 2021-12-01
Series:Journal of Trauma and Injury
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Online Access:http://jtraumainj.org/upload/pdf/jti-2021-0029.pdf
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author Kun Hwang
author_facet Kun Hwang
author_sort Kun Hwang
collection DOAJ
description The aim of this review is to introduce the progress in trauma surgery made during war. In the 16th century, Paré reintroduced ligature of arteries, which had been introduced by Celsus and Galen, instead of cauterization during amputation. Larrey, a surgeon in Napoleon’s military, adapted the “flying artillery” to serve as “flying ambulances” for rapid transport of the wounded. He established rules for the triage of war casualties, treating wounded soldiers according to the seriousness of their injuries and the urgency of medical care. To treat fractures and tuberculosis, Thomas created the “Thomas splint”, which was used to stabilize fractured femurs and prevent infection; in World War I (WWI), use of this splint reduced the mortality of compound femur fractures from 87% to less than 8%. During WWI, Cushing systematized the treatment of head injuries, reducing mortality among head injury patients. Gillies repaired facial injuries, and his experiences became the basis of craniofacial and aesthetic surgery. In WWII, McIndoe discovered that immersion in saline promoted burn healing and improved survival rates, and thus began saline baths and early grafting instead of using tannic acid. A high mortality rate in patients with acute renal failure was noted in WWII and the Korean War. In the Korean War, Teschan used the Kolff-Brigham dialyzer. The first use of medevac with helicopters was the evacuation of three British pilot combat casualties by the US Army in Burma during WWII. As a lotus blooms in the mud, military surgeons have contributed to trauma surgery during wartime.
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spelling doaj-art-cc0043f71f304d2cb0e4e08e63f844f32025-01-16T04:50:50ZengKorean Society of TraumatologyJournal of Trauma and Injury2799-43172287-16832021-12-0134421922410.20408/jti.2021.00291085Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical PerspectiveKun Hwang0 Department of Plastic Surgery, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, KoreaThe aim of this review is to introduce the progress in trauma surgery made during war. In the 16th century, Paré reintroduced ligature of arteries, which had been introduced by Celsus and Galen, instead of cauterization during amputation. Larrey, a surgeon in Napoleon’s military, adapted the “flying artillery” to serve as “flying ambulances” for rapid transport of the wounded. He established rules for the triage of war casualties, treating wounded soldiers according to the seriousness of their injuries and the urgency of medical care. To treat fractures and tuberculosis, Thomas created the “Thomas splint”, which was used to stabilize fractured femurs and prevent infection; in World War I (WWI), use of this splint reduced the mortality of compound femur fractures from 87% to less than 8%. During WWI, Cushing systematized the treatment of head injuries, reducing mortality among head injury patients. Gillies repaired facial injuries, and his experiences became the basis of craniofacial and aesthetic surgery. In WWII, McIndoe discovered that immersion in saline promoted burn healing and improved survival rates, and thus began saline baths and early grafting instead of using tannic acid. A high mortality rate in patients with acute renal failure was noted in WWII and the Korean War. In the Korean War, Teschan used the Kolff-Brigham dialyzer. The first use of medevac with helicopters was the evacuation of three British pilot combat casualties by the US Army in Burma during WWII. As a lotus blooms in the mud, military surgeons have contributed to trauma surgery during wartime.http://jtraumainj.org/upload/pdf/jti-2021-0029.pdfarmed conflictswounds and injuriesmilitary medicinehistory of medicine
spellingShingle Kun Hwang
Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
Journal of Trauma and Injury
armed conflicts
wounds and injuries
military medicine
history of medicine
title Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
title_full Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
title_fullStr Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
title_full_unstemmed Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
title_short Trauma Surgery and War: A Historical Perspective
title_sort trauma surgery and war a historical perspective
topic armed conflicts
wounds and injuries
military medicine
history of medicine
url http://jtraumainj.org/upload/pdf/jti-2021-0029.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT kunhwang traumasurgeryandwarahistoricalperspective