Bottom Line: This study analyzed combat casualty statistics to look at factors associated with reductions in mortality during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The analysis of nearly 57,000 U.S. military casualties from October 2001 through 2017 suggests survival among the most critically injured has increased and that three interventions were associated with a large part of that reduction in deaths: the use of tourniquets, blood transfusions and more rapid prehospital transport times. The study acknowledges other factors, both medical and nonmedical, played a role in reducing mortality but adequate measurement of these other factors doesn't exist.
Authors: Jeffrey T. Howard, Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio, and coauthors
(doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0151)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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Journal
JAMA Surgery