Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service
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Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome is a rare but important condition, which all military health practitioners should be aware of. It should be considered in all young military personnel presenting with symptoms of calf claudication. This article explains the condition, its classification and the key examination findings, allowing differentiation from other diagnoses, as well as advice on management, definitive treatment and prognosis.
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The formation of a clear and well-informed medical plan is critical to the safe planning and execution of any expedition in remote locations. We performed a reconnaissance of medical facilities in Nepal in March 2015 prior to a large Defence Medical Services (DMS) expedition to the Dhaulagiri area in 2016. Visiting relevant medical facilities in person provides invaluable information and experience of what healthcare services may be relied upon in managing an expedition casualty, in scenarios ranging from minor illness to major trauma. We describe the principles, practice and level of detail required for performing such a medical reconnaissance and illustrate this with examples of our findings from Nepal.
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Biography Historical Article
100 Years of British military neurosurgery: on the shoulders of giants.
Death from head injuries has been a feature of conflicts throughout the world for centuries. The burden of mortality has been variously affected by the evolution in weaponry from war-hammers to explosive ordnance, the influence of armour on survivability and the changing likelihood of infection as a complicating factor. ⋯ However, it was events initiated by the Great War of 1914-1918 that not only marked the development of modern neurosurgical techniques, but our approach to military surgery as a whole. Here the author describes how 100 years of conflict and the input and intertwining relationships between the 20th century's great neurosurgeons established neurosurgery in the United Kingdom and beyond.
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We present eleven years of prospectively-gathered data defining the full spectrum of the United Kingdom's (UK) Naval Service (Royal Navy and Royal Marines) casualties, and characterise the injury patterns, recovery and residual functional burden from the conflicts of the last decade. The UK Military Trauma Registry was searched for all Naval Service personnel injured between March 2003 and April 2013. These records were then cross-referenced with the records of the Naval Service Medical Board of Survey (NSMBOS), which evaluates injured Naval Service personnel for medical discharge, continued service in a reduced capacity or Return to Full Duty (RTD). ⋯ The most common reason cited by Naval Service Medical Board of Survey (NSMBOS) for medical downgrading or discharge was injury to the lower limb, with upper limb trauma the next most frequent. This study characterises the spectrum of injuries sustained by the Naval Service during recent conflicts with a very high rate of follow-up. Extremity injuries pose the biggest challenge to reconstructive and rehabilitative services striving to maximise the functional outcomes of injured service personnel.