Frequency and causes of nonbattle injuries air evacuated from operations iraqi freedom and enduring freedom, u.s. Army, 2001-2006.

Medical information systems during past military deployments had limited injury surveillance capability as data were not accessible during deployments and did not capture causes of injury. This paper describes nonbattle injury (NBI) results from an ongoing surveillance program that identifies injury occurrences and causes during deployments for Operations Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). U.S. Army soldiers medically air evacuated from Iraq (March 2003-December 2006) or Afghanistan (October 2001-December 2006) were identified from air evacuation records that provided demographics, casualty type, diagnosis, and patient history. For NBI cases, the patient history was used to identify and code injury cause, incident circumstances, and body region. Descriptive statistics were used to describe and compare NBIs evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan. In all, 27,563 soldiers in Iraq and 4165 in Afghanistan were air evacuated. NBIs accounted for 35% and 36% of cases, respectively, and were the largest single category of evacuations for both operations. Distributions for leading categories of NBI diagnosis (fracture, inflammation/pain, and dislocation) and body region (back, knee, and wrist/hand) were similar for both operations. Leading NBI causes were the same for both operations-sports/physical training (19%-21%), falls/jumps (18%), and motor vehicle-related incidents (12%-16%)-but the proportion of motor vehicle incidents was higher in Iraq (p<0.001). Routinely collected air evacuation records provided the basis for ongoing injury surveillance for Iraq and Afghanistan. NBI was the largest category of evacuations from both operations. Leading NBI causes were similar to those identified for previous deployments and many should be preventable.

Hauret KG ，Taylor BJ ，Clemmons NS ，Block SR ，Jones BH ... -  《-》

A 12-Year Analysis of Nonbattle Injury Among US Service Members Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Le TD ，Gurney JM ，Nnamani NS ，Gross KR ，Chung KK ，Stockinger ZT ，Nessen SC ，Pusateri AE ，Akers KS ... -  《-》

Surveillance of Disease and Nonbattle Injuries During US Army Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hauret KG ，Pacha L ，Taylor BJ ，Jones BH ... -  《-》

Traumatic brain injury hospitalizations of U.S. army soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a life-altering condition that has affected many of our soldiers returning from war. In the current conflicts, the improvised explosive device (IED) has greatly increased the potential for soldiers to sustain a TBI. This study's objective was to establish benchmark admission rates for U.S. Army soldiers with TBIs identified during deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. The study population consisted of U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan from September 11, 2001, through September 30, 2007. Population data were merged with admission data to identify hospitalizations during deployment. Using the international Barell Injury Diagnosis Matrix, TBI-related admissions were categorized into Type 1 (the most severe), Type 2, and Type 3 (the least severe). All analyses were performed in 2008. Of the 2898 identified TBI inpatient episodes of care, 46% were Type 1, 54% were Type 2, and less than 1% were Type 3. Over 65% of Type 1 injuries resulted from explosions, while almost half of all TBIs were non-battle-related. Overall TBI admission rates were 24.6 for Afghanistan and 41.8 for Iraq per 10,000 soldier-years. TBI hospitalization rates rose over time for both campaigns, although U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq experienced 1.7 times higher rates overall and 2.2 times higher Type 1 admission rates than soldiers in Afghanistan. The TBI-related proportion of all injury hospitalizations showed an ascending trend. Future surveillance of TBI hospitalization rates is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation of preventive measures.

Wojcik BE ，Stein CR ，Bagg K ，Humphrey RJ ，Orosco J ... -  《-》

Non-battle injuries among U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001-2013.

Many non-battle injuries among deployed soldiers are due to occupational-related tasks. Given that non-battle injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, occupational safety and health are of great concern to the military. Some of the leading causes of non-battle injuries in the military are also common in non-military occupational settings. Nationally, falls and motor-vehicle accidents are leading causes of non-fatal occupational injuries in the civilian workforce. The objective of this research is to identify the leading causes, types, and anatomic locations of non-fatal non-battle injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq. Non-battle injuries were identified from medical air evacuation records. Causes of air evacuated injuries were identified and coded using the diagnosis and narrative patient history in the air evacuation records. Descriptive statistics were used to report the air evacuated non-battle injury rates, causes, injury types, and anatomic locations. Between 2001 and 2013, there were 68,349 medical air evacuations from Afghanistan and Iraq. Non-battle injuries accounted for 31% of air evacuations from Afghanistan and 34% from Iraq. These injuries were the leading diagnosis category for air evacuations. The three leading causes of injury for Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively, were sports/physical training (23% and 24%), falls/jumps (19% and 16%), and military vehicle-related accidents (8% and 11%). The leading injury types were fractures (21%), overuse pain and inflammation (16%), and dislocations (11%). Given that over 30% of medical evacuations of soldiers result from non-battle injuries, prevention of such conditions would substantially enhance military readiness during combat.

Patel AA ，Hauret KG ，Taylor BJ ，Jones BH ... -  《-》