Abstract: In all of the major wars in which the United States has been engaged, battle casualties caused by injuries involving the bones and joints have presented a formidable problem to the Army Medical Department. This has been true from the standpoint of their frequency as well as their incapacitating effects. In the Civil War, in World War I, and in World War II, more than 70 percent of the wounded who survived to reach hospitals have bad wounds or injuries involving the upper or lower extremities. In the Korean conflict, about two-thirds of the wounded or injured in action had injuries of these sites. Compound (or open) fractures make up an appreciable part of these wounds or injuries of the extremities; for the period of the Korean conflict, about one-fourth. The mere citation of these figures indicates the magnitude of the task which confronts the military orthopedic surgeon. The full significance of the proportions just mentioned cannot be appreciated without knowledge of the numbers of troops under arms in the various theaters of operations. JMD
| Limitations: |
 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE |
| Pages: |
397 |
| Report Date: |
56 |
| Report Number: |
A900292 |
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