Neurosurg Focus
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An international military campaign involving large numbers of troops is ongoing in Afghanistan. To support the military efforts in the conflict zone, a network of military medical services of varying levels has been established. The largest and busiest multinational military hospital in southern Afghanistan is located at Kandahar Air Field where the only neurosurgeon is based. This report outlines the contribution of multinational military health services and the workload of the neurosurgical service in Kandahar.
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To review the cost effectiveness for the management of a unilateral cervical radiculopathy with either posterior cervical foraminotomy (PCF) or anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) in military personnel, with a particular focus on time required to return to active-duty service. ⋯ In the management of unilateral posterior cervical radiculopathy for military active-duty personnel, PCF offers a benefit relative to ACDF in immediate short-term direct and long-term indirect costs. The indirect cost of a service member away from full, unrestricted active duty 14.8 weeks longer in the ACDF group was the main contributor to this difference.
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Historical Article
The development of military medical care for peripheral nerve injuries during World War I.
Although the clinical and electrical diagnoses and treatments of peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs) had been described prior to World War I, many reports were fragmented and incomplete. Individual physicians' experiences were not extensive, and in 1914 the patient with a PNI remained a subject of medical curiosity, and was hardly a focus of comprehensive care. World War I altered these conditions; casualties with septic wounds and PNIs swamped the general hospitals. ⋯ Records were lost, personnel transferred, and patients discharged from the system. The lack of a standardized grading system seriously impaired the ability to record clinical changes and compare outcomes. Nevertheless, specialized treatment of a large number of PNIs during World War I established a foundation for comprehensive care that influenced military medical services in the next world war.
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Case Reports
Neurosurgery in Afghanistan during "Operation Enduring Freedom": a 24-month experience.
"Operation Enduring Freedom" is the US war effort in Afghanistan in its global war on terror. One US military neurosurgeon is deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to provide care for both battlefield injuries and humanitarian work. Here, the authors analyze a 24-month neurosurgical caseload experience in Afghanistan. ⋯ Military neurosurgeons have provided surgical care at rates of 71% (149/210) for battlefield injuries and 29% (61/210) for humanitarian work. Of the operations for battle trauma, 50% (106/210) were cranial and 11% (25/210) spinal surgeries. Fifteen percent (32/210) and 13% (27/210) of operations were for humanitarian cranial and spine procedures, respectively. Overall, military neurosurgeons in Afghanistan are performing life-saving cranial and spine stabilization procedures for battlefield trauma and acting as general neurosurgeons for the Afghan community.
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For many years, the experience of neurosurgeons from the German Armed Forces was limited to the peacetime care of patients in Germany. In 1995, German military neurosurgeons were deployed abroad for the first time. Since the beginning of the International Security Assistance Force mission, there has been a rapidly increasing number of opportunities for military neurosurgeons to broaden their experience during deployments abroad. ⋯ The majority of neurosurgical procedures were performed in Afghan patients who received acute and elective treatment whenever the necessary infrastructure was available in the field hospital. Fifteen patients from the Afghan National Army and Police and 115 local patients underwent neurosurgery. Sixty-two procedures were carried out under acute or urgent conditions, and 78 operations were elective.