Military Injuries: Special Considerations

Battlefield injuries always elicit a strong defensive response and a feeling of inadequate knowledge that is essential to managing these patients. The necessity of being aware of the mechanism, ballistics, extent of injury, and management peculiarities used to be the exclusive domain of the Military surgeons. This has now changed globally with an increasing number of casualties being encountered in the “civilian” world due to increasing violence, use of firearms, and terrorist attacks. It is imperative to know the mechanism of these injuries as these injuries are becoming common in the civilian world, with the increasing terrorist attacks, availability of handguns, and so on. The aim of this chapter will be to give an overview of the injuries sustained in a battlefield.