Military medicine
-
Prevention of musculoskeletal injury is vital to the readiness, performance, and health of military personnel with the use of specialized systems (e.g., force plates) to assess risk and/or physical performance of interest. This study aimed to identify the reliability of one specialized system during standard assessments in military personnel. ⋯ The reliability of most Sparta Science and biomechanical variables during standard assessments was moderate to good. The typical variability in metrics documented will assist practitioners with the use of emerging technology to monitor and assess injury risk and/or training interventions in military personnel.
-
Surgical site infections complicate 2%-5% of surgeries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, half of all surgical site infections are preventable. Adherence to published recommendations regarding perioperative antibiotic administration decreases the incidence of surgical site infections. Members of the Department of Anesthesia noticed casual observations of inaccurate prescribing of antibiotics at our institution, Brooke Army Medical Center, and approached the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program to collaborate on this issue. ⋯ Our multidisciplinary approach of collaboration with multiple departments, creating guidelines and providing feedback, improved compliance with perioperative antibiotic administration recommendations.
-
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious disease entity that must be diagnosed quickly for urgent management in the intensive care unit. Keeping DKA in the differential diagnosis is important, especially in a forward deployed, resource-poor setting. The symptoms and signs of DKA are nonspecific, including fatigue, polydipsia, polyuria, weakness, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain with tachycardia and tachypnea on exam. ⋯ By the time he was transferred to the emergency room, he was in severe DKA. The patient was treated in the intensive care unit and made a full recovery. He was processed for limited duty and medical board upon hospital discharge.
-
Chronic pain is a debilitating problem that disproportionately affects military veterans. We completed a qualitative study that identified 20 research priorities of Canadian veterans living with chronic noncancer pain. The aim of this study was to establish the generalizability of these priorities. ⋯ Our survey established research priorities among Canadian veterans living with chronic noncancer pain. These findings should be considered by granting agencies when formulating calls for proposals and by researchers who wish to undertake research that will address the needs of military veterans living with chronic pain.
-
Stretching and Self-Myofascial Release in Helicopter Aircrew to Reduce Neck and Back Pain (Phase 1).
This prospective intervention study was designed to determine the efficacy of a standardized Preflight/Postflight Stretches (PPS) protocol to reduce subjective neck and back pain scores in helicopter aircrew. Aircrew transient back and neck pain is well documented, and there is currently no standardized preflight and postflight stretching protocol for Naval Aviation. ⋯ Aircrew back and neck pain because of flying is well documented. However, there is no standardized stretching protocol for aircrew to perform immediately preflight or postflight in U.S. Naval Aviation. This study demonstrated that PPS, a simple 5- to 7-min stretching routine, gives aircrew structure and can reduce postflight cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and overall pain. This phase proved to be safe as no adverse events were reported. The prehabilitation aspect could reduce conventional medical intervention, costly pharmacological management of neck and back pain, and be applied to other aviation populations in military and civilian communities.