Postgraduate medical journal
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Injury of the spinal cord has been known since antiquity. There is no cure for the injury and until modern times patients died rapidly from a combination of pressure sores and urinary tract infection. ⋯ This article explores how this treatment developed in the ancient world, the middle ages, in Europe, Great Britain, and latterly in the United States. It describes how these principles of treatment were recognised particularly in Germany, the United States, and Great Britain and evaluates the relative contributions made by the different pioneers.
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The origins, development, and success of the ATLS course are described with reference to the literature.