Surgical advances during the First World War: the birth of modern orthopaedics.

The First World War (1914-1918) was the first truly industrial conflict in human history. Never before had rifle fire and artillery barrage been employed on a global scale. It was a conflict that over 4 years would leave over 750,000 British troops dead with a further 1.6 million injured, the majority with orthopaedic injuries. Against this backdrop, the skills of the orthopaedic surgeon were brought to the fore. Many of those techniques and systems form the foundation of modern orthopaedic trauma management. On the centenary of 'the War to end all Wars', we review the significant advances in wound management, fracture treatment, nerve injury and rehabilitation that were developed during that conflict.

Heterotopic ossification: a systematic review.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the formation of mature lamellar bone in extraskeletal soft tissues. It was first described 1000 years ago in the healing of fractures, and in relation to military wounds, texts from the American Civil War and World War I refer to HO specifically. It continues to cause problems to injured service personnel; the consequences of wound and soft tissue complications in traumatic amputations pose particular problems to rehabilitation and prosthetic use. While HO is seen in rare genetic conditions, it is most prevalent after joint replacement surgery and trauma. In the civilian setting HO has been commonly described in patients after traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and burns. Militarily, as a consequence of recent operations, and the characteristic injury of blast-related amputations, a renewed interest in HO has emerged due to an increased incidence seen in casualties. The heterogeneous nature of a blast related amputation makes it difficult for a single aetiological event to be identified, although it is now accepted that blast, amputation through the zone of injury, increased injury severity and associated brain injuries are significant risk factors in HO formation. The exact cellular event leading to HO has yet to be identified, and as a consequence its prevention is restricted to the use of anti-inflammatory medication and radiation, which is often contraindicated in the acute complex military casualty. A systematic review in PubMed and the Cochrane Database identified research articles related to HO to illustrate the military problem of HO and its management, current research concepts and experimental theories regarding HO. This also served as a gap analysis providing the researchers detail of any knowledge deficit in this field, in particular to the military aspects of HO; 637 out of 7891 articles initially identified that referenced HO were relevant to this review.

Heterotopic ossification in victims of the London 7/7 bombings.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the formation of bone at extraskeletal sites. Over 60% of amputees injured by improvised explosive devices in the recent conflict in Afghanistan have developed HO, resulting in functional impairment. It is hypothesised that a key aetiological factor is the blast wave; however, other environmental and medical risk factors, which the casualties have been exposed to, have also been postulated. The suicide terrorist bombings in London in 2005 resulted in many blast-related casualties, many of whom were managed by the Royal London Hospital. This cohort of severely injured patients whose injuries also included trauma-related amputations shared some, but not all, of the risk factors identified in the military population. We reviewed these patients, in particular to assess the presence or absence of military-established risk factors for the formation of HO in these casualties.

Ergonomic assessment of enhanced protection under body armour combat shirt neck collars.

INTRODUCTION: Combat neck injury due to explosively propelled fragments is a significant cause of mortality and long-term morbidity in UK soldiers deployed on current operations. Reinforcing the collar of the existing under body armour combat shirt (UBACS) has been suggested as a potential method for reducing the incidence of combat neck injury. METHOD: 20 soldiers serving in Afghanistan objectively compared three designs of enhanced protection UBACS (EP-UBACS) using 10 representative military tasks against a baseline of a standard UBACS. Each EP-UBACS design was trialled using three constituent materials: two layers of para-aramid felt, one layer of ultra high molecule weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) felt or two layers of a silk fabric. Subjective assessment of these nine configurations in terms of comfort, heat dissipation and overall acceptability were compared with the standard UBACS using a χ² test. RESULTS: All military tasks could be performed with all nine configurations of EP-UBACS. Although silk was the most comfortable material, it was not functionally practical in any of the three designs. Crossover collars incorporating UHMWPE or para-aramid were the only two of the nine configurations to demonstrate similar user acceptability to a standard UBACS. CONCLUSIONS: The EP-UBACS has the potential to provide neck protection without reducing performance incorporating materials analogous to either of the felts assessed in this study. The collar should provide stand-off from the skin to improve heat dissipation and comfort, which can be maximised by changing the current UBACS collar shape to one that crosses over at the front. Should a zip be desired, it should be moved to one side of the midline to reduce rubbing on the chin and be covered with ballistic protective material. Additional semi-circles of silk beneath the collar at the front and back would improve protection without affecting comfort.

Case suitability for definitive through knee amputation following lower extremity blast trauma: analysis of 146 combat casualties, 2008-2010.

INTRODUCTION: Analysis of recent UK Armed Forces combat casualty data has highlighted a significant number of through joint traumatic amputations (TAs), most commonly through knee (through knee amputations (TKAs)). Previously, a consensus statement on lower limb amputation from the UK Defence Medical Services reported better outcomes in some patients with TKAs when compared with those with above knee amputations. This study sought to define the proportion of recent combat casualties sustaining severe lower extremity trauma with acute osseous and soft tissue injury anatomy amenable to definitive TKA. METHODS: The UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry and post mortem CT (PM-CT) databases were used to identify all UK Armed Forces personnel (survivors and fatalities) sustaining a major extremity TA (through/proximal to wrist or ankle joint) between August 2008 and August 2010. Through knee and all below knee TAs were grouped as 'potential TKAs' (pTKAs), that is, possible candidates for definitive TKA. RESULTS: 146 Cases (75 survivors and 71 fatalities) sustaining 271 TAs (130 in survivors, 141 in fatalities) were identified. The through-joint TA rate was 47/271 (17.3%); 34/47 through-joint injuries (72.3%) were TKAs. Overall, 63/130 TAs in survivors and 66/140 TAs in fatalities merited analysis as the pTKA group. Detailed anatomical data on pre-debridement osseous and soft tissue injury levels were only consistently available for fatalities through PM-CT findings. Further analysis of the soft tissue injury profile revealed that a definitive TKA in the pTKA group (all BKAs as well as TKAs) would have been proximal to the zone of injury (ZOI) in only 3/66 cases. CONCLUSIONS: Traumatic TKAs following explosive blast are more common than previously reported. The majority of lower limb TAs are skeletally amenable to a definitive TKA. Maximising residual stump length carries the risks of definitive level amputation within the original ZOI but this study demonstrates that the proximal extent of the soft tissue injury may frequently make this unavoidable. Further work is required to determine the relative merits of definitive below, through and above knee amputations in the short, medium and long term to ensure survivors are subject to minimal complications while maintaining capacity to achieve optimal functional outcomes.

Blast-mediated traumatic amputation: evidence for a revised, multiple injury mechanism theory.

INTRODUCTION: The accepted mechanism of blast-mediated traumatic amputation (TA) is blast wave induced fracture followed by limb avulsion from the blast wind, generating a transosseous amputation. Blast-mediated through-joint TAs were considered extremely rare with published prevalence <2%. Previous studies have also suggested that TA is frequently associated with fatal primary blast lung injury (PBLI). However, recent evidence suggests that the mechanism of TA and the link with fatal primary blast exposure merit review. METHODS: A trauma registry (UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry) and postmortem CT (PM-CT) database were used to identify casualties (survivors and deaths) sustaining a blast-mediated TA in the 2 years from August 2008. TA metrics and associated significant injuries were recorded. Detailed anatomical data on extremity predebridement osseous and soft tissue injuries were only consistently available for deaths through comprehensive PM-CT imaging. RESULTS: 146 cases (75 survivors and 71 deaths) sustaining 271 TAs (130 in survivors and 141 in deaths) were identified. The lower limb was most commonly affected (117/130 in survivors, 123/141 in deaths). The overall through-joint TA rate was 47/271 (17.3%) and 34/47 through-joint injuries (72.3%) were through knee. More detailed anatomical analysis facilitated by PM-CT imaging revealed only 9/34 through-joint TAs had a contiguous fracture (ie, intra-articular involving the joint through which TA occurred), 18/34 had no fracture and 7/34 had a non-contiguous (ie, remote from the level of TA) fracture. No relationship between PBLI and TA was evident. CONCLUSIONS: The previously reported link between TA and PBLI was not present, calling into question the significance of primary blast injury in causation of blast mediated TAs. Furthermore, the accepted mechanism of injury can't account for the significant number of through-joint TAs. The high rate of through-joint TAs with either no associated fracture or a non-contiguous fracture (74%) is supportive of pure flail as a mechanism for blast-mediated TA.

Determining the velocity required for skin perforation by fragment simulating projectiles: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Explosively propelled fragments are the most common cause of injury to soldiers on current operations. Researchers desire models to predict their injurious effects so as to refine methods of potential protection. Well validated physical and numerical models based on the penetration of standardised fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs) through muscle exist but not for skin, thereby reducing the utility of such models. METHOD: A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology to identify all open source information quantifying the effects of postmortem human subject (PMHS) and animal skin on the retardation of metallic projectiles. Projectile sectional density (mass over presented cross-sectional area) was compared with the velocity required for skin perforation or penetration, with regard to skin origin (animal vs PMHS), projectile shape (sphere vs cylinder) and skin backing (isolated skin vs that backed by muscle). RESULTS: 17 original experimental studies were identified, predominantly using skin from the thigh. No statistical difference in the velocity required for skin perforation with regard to skin origin or projectile shape was found. A greater velocity was required to perforate intact skin on a whole limb than isolated skin alone (p<0.05). An empirical relationship describing the velocity required to perforate skin by metallic FSPs of a range of sectional densities was generated. DISCUSSION: Skin has a significant effect on the retardation of FSPs, necessitating its incorporation in future injury models. Perforation algorithms based on animal and PMHS skin can be used interchangeably as well as spheres and cylinders of matching sectional density. Future numerical simulations for skin perforation must match the velocity for penetration and also require experimental determination of mechanical skin properties, such as tensile strength, strain and elasticity at high strain rates.

The changing pattern of amputations.

INTRODUCTION: Conflict in the Middle East over the past 10 years has seen a change in warfare tactics from the use of ballistic missiles to blast weapons, which has resulted in a well-documented change in wounding patterns. Due to the severity of these injuries, there have been large numbers of amputations, both as life and limb saving procedures. The purpose of this paper is to retrospectively review all UK service personnel who have undergone limb amputation in the last 8 years of conflict and compare those from the early years with the more recent. METHODS: All UK service personnel scoring more than 1 on the extremity score of the Abbreviated Injury Score were identified from the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry and separated into two temporal cohorts (August 2003-February 2008 and August 2008-July 2010). Intheatre medical facility and Role 4 hospital notes from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham were examined for details of mechanisms of injury, number of limbs injured, associated injuries, method of amputation, microbiology of contaminating organisms and outcome. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the nature of the amputations, the number of multiple amputations and soft tissue perineal wounds, as well as a significantly higher Injury Severity Score in the later time period. There were also significant differences in the surgical techniques, with more guillotine amputations in the early group, and mechanism of injury, with more blast injuries in the late group. CONCLUSIONS: This study has confirmed the clinical impression that there has been a significant change in the limb trauma from the Iraq conflict to Afghanistan. These injury patterns have significantly different logistic implications and this must be considered when planning the required medical assets in future conflicts.

Modelling for conflict: the legacy of ballistic research and current extremity in vivo modelling.

Extremity ballistic injury is unique and the literature intended to guide its management is commonly misinterpreted. In order to care for those injured in conflict and conduct appropriate research, clinicians must be able to identify key in vivo studies, understand their weaknesses and desist the propagation of miscited and misunderstood ballistic dogma. This review provides the only inclusive critical overview of key studies of relevance to military extremity injury. In addition, the non-ballistic studies of limb injury, stabilisation and contamination that will form the basis from which future small animal extremity studies are constructed are presented. With an awareness of the legacy of military wound models and an insight into available generic models of extremity injury and contamination, research teams are well placed to optimise future military extremity injury management.

Pattern of upper limb amputation associated with lower limb amputation: the UK military experience from Iraq and Afghanistan.

INTRODUCTION: The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in large numbers of personnel sustaining extremity injuries. In the context of polytrauma, partial hand amputation is often unrecorded. The aim of this work was to quantify the burden of upper limb (UL) amputation at any level occurring concurrently with a major (ankle and proximal) lower limb (LL) amputation. Knowledge of this cohort could aid in prosthetic modification to further improve quality of life outcomes in a population with dexterity loss. METHOD: A trauma database search was undertaken for all UK military LL amputees from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. A manual search method was employed to identify from the major LL amputees those who had a concurrent UL amputation at any level (including isolated finger amputation). Demographics, level of amputation, and injury profile data were recorded. RESULTS: Sixty-eight individuals were identified; the most prevalent population was bilateral LL with a unilateral UL amputation (60%). Most UL amputations were partial hand (75%). The was no statistically significant difference between left or right side (p=0.13). On the left side, correlation was found between amputation of the thumb and third digit (rho=0.34; p=0.005) not seen on the right. CONCLUSION: We have determined the rate of UL amputation at any level, in combination with LL amputation as a result of blast injury. Knowledge of these combinations enables further research to support anecdotal evidence that there is a need for tailored prosthetics in the context of potential dexterity loss making donning and doffing problematic.

Spinal fractures in current military deployments.

OBJECTIVE: To describe spinal fracture patterns presenting to deployed medical facilities during recent military operations. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the United Kingdom Centre for Defence Imaging Computed Tomography database, 2005-2009. Fractures are classified, mechanism noted and associated injuries recorded. Statistical analysis is by Fisher's Exact test. RESULTS: 128 fractures in 57 casualties are analysed. Ballistic (79%) and non-ballistic mechanisms contribute to vertebral fracture at all regions of the spinal column in patients treated at deployed medical facilities. There is a high incidence of lumbar spine fractures, which are more likely to be due to explosion than gunshot wounding (p < 0.05). Two thirds of thoracolumbar spine fractures caused by explosive devices are unstable and are mainly burst-fractures in configuration. 60% of spinal fracture patients had concomitant injuries. There is a strong relationship between spinal fractures caused by explosions and lower limb fractures. CONCLUSION: Injuries to the spine caused by explosive devices account for greater numbers, greater associated morbidity and increasing complexity than other means of spinal injury managed in contemporary warfare. With the predominance of explosive injury in current conflict, this work provides the first detail of an evolving injury mechanism with implications for injury mitigation research.

Historical origins and current concepts of wound debridement.

In the late 18th Century wound debridement consisted of incision of skin and deep fascia to release the swelling associated with ballistic injury, however extremity war wounds were more usually managed non-operatively or by amputation. During the First World War debridement was redefined to include excision of all non-viable and foreign material. In the modern era it has been proposed that wounds contain a zone of injured tissue which is not obviously non-viable at the initial debridement. Debridement which preserves this tissue has been described as marginal debridement. Wounds sustained in close proximity to explosions have an extensive zone of injury. Preservation of traumatised tissue may be beneficial in terms of limb salvage and limb reconstruction. Equally the complexity and contamination of these wounds, as well as the physiological frailty of the casualty, may make complete debridement in one sitting an unachievable goal. Where traumatised tissue has been left during debridement it must be reassessed at around 48 hours in order to reduce the risk of infection. Evacuation timelines and logistic infrastructure currently support serial marginal debridement but in future conflicts this may not be the case.

A brief history of war amputation.

Throughout the history of warfare, changes in weaponry have produced changes in the nature of war injury. The 16th century saw the introduction of firearms in conventional warfare, bringing the destructive power of weaponry to new and unseen heights with a dramatic increase in the severity and complexity of battle injuries. Destructive gunshot wounding associated with embedded foreign material often led to sepsis and demanded the more radical treatment of amputation. Over the past 500 years innumerable developments have taken place in anaesthesia, asepsis, transfusion therapy and resuscitation, antibiotic therapy, vascular surgery and wound management. Medical services have had to adapt in order to cope with the changing volume and changing nature of battle casualties resulting from modern weaponry. Despite the progress made, amputation is still a commonly performed operation following traumatic limb injury. In those cases where the decision to amputate is not so clearly and distinctly defined, history has shown that prevention of infection requires aggressive primary surgery and removal of all devitalised tissue. This paper examines the history of amputation in the management of the battlefield casualty suffering limb injury, beginning in the 16th century and continuing into present day.

Limb salvage of severely injured extremities after military wounds.

Severely wounded extremities following battlefield injuries present a surgical dilemma to military surgeons of whether to attempt salvage or amputate the limb. There are many considerations to be made, including local and systemic patient factors, other wounded personnel and logistical constraints. Attempts have been made previously to form objective scoring criteria so as to remove possible subjectivity in this decision-making process. Furthermore, paediatric patients present their own particular dilemmas. This paper examines these various matters and, with contemporaneous evidence, presents recommendations for management.

Initial extremity war wound debridement: a multidisciplinary consensus.

A joint meeting of the Limb Trauma and Wounds Working Groups resulted in the establishment of 29 consensus recommendations for the conduct of initial extremity war wound debridement. Pre-operative, operative and post-operative phases of debridement were considered along with wound irrigation and dressings. Wounds where a different surgical approach is required, such as superficial soft tissue wounds at one end of the spectrum and complex wounds sustained in close proximity to explosions at the other, were also discussed. The recommendations represent the consensus opinion of orthopaedic, vascular and plastic surgeons, as well as nursing officers, from across the Defence Medical Services and are intended to provide useful guidance to the deploying surgeon, regardless of their own personal experience.

A retrospective study into the levels of evidence presented at the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society annual meeting.

OBJECTIVES: The role of Evidence Based Medicine in clinical care is to provide a framework for the integration of expertise, current evidence and the needs of the individual patient. Research presented at scientific meetings is an important source of such evidence, informing clinical decision making both on military operations and in home nation health care systems. The aim of this study is to review the levels of evidence presented at the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society (CSOS) and two other related scientific meetings. METHODS: Retrospective review of abstracts presented at the annual scientific meetings of the CSOS, Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons (SOMOS) and the British Trauma Society (BTS). Basic science studies, animal studies, cadaveric studies, surveys and guest lectures were excluded. Research abstracts were categorised according to the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine's (CEBM) hierarchy of evidence. Statistical comparison was performed to investigate differences in evidence levels presented at each scientific meeting and between each year of the CSOS meeting. RESULTS: 596 abstracts met the inclusion criteria for this study (179 CSOS, 173 SOMOS, 244 BTS). Level IV evidence accounted for the majority of presented abstracts at each meeting (72.6% CSOS, 69.4% SOMOS, 68.9% BTS). Level I evidence was uncommon at each meeting (6.1% CSOS, 5.2% SOMOS, 2.9% BTS). There was no statistical difference in the evidence levels presented at the three scientific meetings. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of comparative clinical studies (Levels I-III) presented at military or trauma societies' scientific meetings reflects the difficulty of performing research in emergency surgery. This is further exacerbated in the military environment where operational commitments and delivery of care take priority. However, the future value of comparative clinical research in battlefield healthcare could have an enduring legacy that shapes trauma care for many decades.

The pattern of paediatric blast injury in Afghanistan.

INTRODUCTION: Between 2009 and 2015, 3746 children died, and 7904 were injured as a result of armed conflict within Afghanistan. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosive remnants of war accounted for 29% of child casualties in 2015. The aim of this study was to review the burden of paediatric blast injuries admitted to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, and to investigate the hypothesis that children suffer proportionally more head injuries than adults. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was undertaken of prospectively collected data derived from the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry of ambulant paediatric (aged 2-15 years) admissions with blast injuries at the Role 3 Field Hospital, Camp Bastion from June 2006 to March 2013. The data set included demographic information, injury profile and severity (New Injury Severity Score) and operative findings. The pattern of injuries were investigated by looking at trends in the number and severity of injuries sustained by each body region. RESULTS: During this period, 295 admissions were identified, 76% of whom were male, with an overall mortality rate of 18.5%. The most common blast mechanism was an IED (68%) causing 80% of fatalities. The lower extremities were the most commonly injured body region, accounting for 31% of total injuries and occurring in 62% of cases. 24.3% of children between 2 and 7 years suffered severe head or neck injuries compared with 19.8% of children aged between 8 and 15 years. 34% of head injuries were rated unsurvivable and accounted for 88% of fatalities. 77% of cases required an operation with a mean operating time of 125 min. The most common first operations were debridement of soft tissues (50%), laparotomy (16%) and lower limb amputation (11%). CONCLUSION: Although paediatric blast casualties represented a small percentage of the overall workload at Camp Bastion Role 3 Medical Facility, the pattern of injuries seen suggests that children are more likely to sustain severe head, face and neck injuries than adults.

Predicting the need for early amputation in ballistic mangled extremity injuries.

BACKGROUND: Despite modern advances, amputation is still a commonly performed operation in war. It is often difficult to decide whether to amputate after high-energy trauma to the lower extremity. To help guide this assessment, scoring systems have been developed with amputation threshold values. These studies were all conducted on a civilian population, encompassing a wide range of ages and methods of injury. The evidence for their sensitivity and specificity is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the mangled extremity severity score (MESS), the only verified score, in a population of UK military patients with ballistic mangled extremity injuries. METHODS: We identified from the prospectively kept Joint Theater Trauma Registry all patients who had sustained ballistic lower limb open fractures during the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (May 2003-April 2008). Demographics were assessed using both the trauma audit and the hospital notes. Patients were retrospectively evaluated with the MESS system for lower extremity trauma. Those that required an amputation were compared with those that had successful limb salvage. RESULTS: Seventy-seven military patients with 86 limbs who had ballistic mangled extremity injuries were identified, 22 of whom required amputation. The MESS did not help to decide whether or not an amputation was appropriate and in particular, the age was not relevant. A skeletal score of 4, while being associated with a higher amputation rate, was not predictive of its need. Most amputations were performed when an ischemic limb was present, and the general condition of the casualty precluded the lengthy reconstruction required for salvage. CONCLUSIONS: The management of ballistic extremity injuries in military patients should be considered separate to that of civilians with high-energy trauma extremity injuries. The authors have identified important factors in the management, in particular the need for early amputation, of the military mangled extremity.

Preliminary results of the 'Surgilig' synthetic ligament in the management of chronic acromioclavicular joint disruption.

BACKGROUND: Chronic instability of the acromiocavicular joint is relatively common and normally occurs following a fall onto the point of the shoulder. Reconstruction of the joint [Weaver-Dunn procedure] using the coracoacromial ligament is often required in service personnel, and a number of methods to augment this repair have been used. Many of these operative methods require a second operation to remove the metalwork, and in addition can be associated with a failure rate of up to 30%. The 'Surgilig' was originally designed for use in the revision of failed Weaver-Dunn procedures. However this study evaluates its use in the primary operation, reinforcing the autologous graft, in an attempt to reduce the failurerate. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We prospectively followed up the Modified Weaver Dunn procedures using Surgilig. The post-operative x-rays were reviewed at six weeks, three months and then six months to assess the radiological success of the procedure. Our patients were discharged at six months. RESULTS: We have performed this procedure in 11 patients. One of the 11 patients was excluded from the study as the Surgilig graft was used in addition to a hook plate. The remaining ten patients have all reached the six-month post-operative time with no incidence of radiological failure of the graft. After six months they were discharged from clinic follow-up asthe coracoacromial graft had sufficient strength to no longer rely on the augment for mechanical stability of the joint. All 10 patients had a good clinical and radiological result. One patient even had inadvertent stress/ weight-bearing x-rays taken at six weeks, with no discernable detrimental effect to outcome. CONCLUSION: Although a small study, these initial results for primary fixation of acromioclavicular joint disruption with Surgilig are extremely encouraging. The results suggest that Surgilig should continue to be used in its current role. As patient numbers increase, a follow-up study to evaluate these preliminary findings should be conducted.

Improvised skeletal traction in the management of ballistic femoral fractures.

Penetrating limb injuries are common during conflict, and in many there will be an associated fracture. Treatment of ballistic femoral fractures would usually be with by intramedullary nail; however, within the resource-constrained environment during conflict this is rarely possible. This report illustrates what can be achieved at a Role 2 facility to provide skeletal traction with the equipment and skills available. We discuss the history of skeletal traction and its use in ballistic femoral fractures, and believe that skeletal traction is still a valuable technique that we shouldn't ignore. Military surgeons should be able to use skeletal traction to manage ballistic femoral fractures in the spartan environment of a deployed forward hospital.