Orthopaedic battle injuries

About this activity

Extremity injuries make up 54% of combat wounds sustained in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In a cohort of war-wounded service members, we identified the conditions secondary to battle injury that result in disqualification from continued service. The Army Physical Evaluation Board records of 464 wounded service members who were injured between October 2001 and January 2005 were reviewed to determine the codes indicating unfitting conditions. Sixty-nine percent of these conditions were orthopaedic.