Clinical utilization of deployed military surgeons

Autor: Andrew B Hall, Scott Trask, Stacy Shackelford, Jennifer M. Gurney, Christopher Mahoney, Ramey L. Wilson, Iram Qureshi, Jonathan Taylor, Avery Walker
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 91:S256-S260
ISSN: 2163-0763
2163-0755
DOI: 10.1097/ta.0000000000003095
Popis: BACKGROUND Combat casualty care has been shaped by the prolonged conflicts in Southwest Asia, namely Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The utilization of surgeons in austere locations outside of Southwest Asia and its implication on skill retention and value have not been examined. This study hypothesizes that surgeon utilization is low in the African theater. This lack of activity is potentially damaging to surgical skill retention and patient care. METHODS Military case logs of surgeons deployed to Africa under command of Special Operations Command Africa between January 1, 2016, and January 1, 2020, were examined. Cases were organized based on population served, general type of procedure, current procedural terminology codes, and location. RESULTS Twenty deployment caseloads representing 74% of the deployments during the period were analyzed. In 3,294 days, 101 operations were performed, which included 45 on combat/terrorism related injuries and 19 on US personnel. East and West African deployments, combat, and noncombat zones, respectively, were compared. East Africa averaged 4.1 ± 3.8 operations per deployment, and West Africa, 7.3 ± 8.0 (p = 0.2434). In East Africa, 56.1% of total operations were related to combat/terrorism, compared with 29.6% of total operations in West Africa (p = 0.0077). West Africa had a significantly higher proportion of elective (p = 0.0002) and humanitarian cases (p =
Databáze: OpenAIRE