Customer Reviews

War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Series of Cases, 2003-2007 (Textbooks of Military Medicine)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was produced by the Borden Institute which writes the Textbooks of Military Medicine for the Army Medical Department (AMEDD). It is a series of case studies from surgeons deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Each case presented begins with a narrative that describes how the wounded patient arrived and the care they received followed by teaching points from the surgeons who cared for the patients and then a section that describes best practices for surgeons who encounter similar situations including contemporary damage control techniques.

The foreward is written by Bob Woodruff who was critically injured in Iraq and who was evacuated to a military hospital in Iraq where he received life saving neurosurgery. In addition to describing his care he pointedly states, "it is our dream that the attention to the wounded remains as focused in the long journey to heal as it is in those white-hot moments in the surgical theater when nothing is spared to save a life."

The book is beautifully illustrated with over 450 color photographs. The pictures accompany the cases described and are dramatic but will be disturbing to some. Often, the pictures show the initial injuries and in some cases "after" pictures show the patients when they have recovered from their wounds. These photos were taken by the surgeons themselves at various stages of the patient's care.

Beyond its obvious usefulness in preparing surgeons for combat, the book also uniquley demonstrates what war surgery is, and the great work that medical personnel of the United States Armed Forces perform. It is in many ways the story of their war.

The Authors and Editors of this book have really put together an outstanding piece of work that should not only be extremely useful to military and civilian trauma surgeons but will also stand alone as a document to the incredible work being done in the current conflicts. (Disclaimer: - although I am not a listed contributor, I did help take care of some of the patients listed in the book)

This is a great resource for surgeons (especially if it has been a while since they were immersed in trauma) to look over on the 14+ hour flight to Kuwait. While it cannot cover every single injury that may be faced downrange, it will certainly cover the majority of situations and definitely get the trauma mindset in gear. Other great reads on that flight include Top Knife: Art and Craft in Trauma Surgeryand Operative Trauma Management.

There was some minor controversy regarding the publishing of this book (mostly due to the photographs and some descriptions of the mechanism of the injuries) but I am glad the Army Surgeon General supported this book and that it is available. Time will only tell what long term medical and surgical advances will come from this war, but this book is an excellent start.

Amazing book. US Navy FMF Corpsman Approved. I first saw this book in training one of our senior Doc's had a copy, shortly after we had all acquired our own.

The cases depicted in this book are remarkable, and the commentary is insightful and applicable to domestic trauma. This book is an outstanding addition to the libraries of surgeons, as well as members of the public who want an inside glimpse into the daily experiences of military trauma surgeons.

This was a gift for my father, who has worked as a trauma surgeon and has now been working in general surgery for 25+ years. That said this, this is not a review, as much as what he told me about it. So, quoting:

Everything is detailed and explained in a technical and informative way. The amount of information is made even larger by the many pictures for each of the shown cases, which depict the trauma before and after the operation.
A worthy addition to a surgeon's bookshelf and I would surely recommend it to other surgeons.

My father is not a man of reviews.
As for myself, my non-technical comment is that even with a basic knowledge of anatomy and emergency first aid, I was able to make some sense of the mess shown in the (high quality) pictures. The accounts are really well written, and even if you are just interested in knowing what kind of havoc fire weapons can cause to a human body on one side, or what terrific (and unspoken) work field surgeons do on the other side, you should pick it up.
I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

So there you go, you have a technical and a non-technical recommendation.

Very detailed descriptive images and cases. Alot of plastic surgery reconstructions. Well written, interesting to read and see how war surgery is. Cases have before and after results. Love the pictures.

I bought this book when it first came out, after reading a review in the NY Times. The brass didn't want it published, but the Surgeon-General of the Army had guts & rank enough to insist and it made it into print. I recently pulled it off the shelf and re-read it cover to cover. I was as floored the second time as I was the first. This is an astounding piece of work, bearing witness to the superb intervention the medical corps does to treat these appalling combat injuries. It is not a book for the squeamish, but it should be required reading for one and all. These are the consequences of the 2 wars in which we are involved. The text is dry, as befits a case presentation; it's the pictures that grab you. I think of this book, with its horrific photographs, every time I nod and say, "Yes, I support our troops". I do, but more than anything, I support and applaud the work of the medical corps in keeping those troops healthy and giving the best possible aid when they are injured.

If ever you find yourself in an emergency room with a traumatic injury, give thanks to the war surgeons past and present who of necessity developed so many of the emergency surgical techniques that are standard procedure in today's ERs. Most of those techniques, and many that are so new they have not yet made it into the civilian ER system, are illustrated here. Read this book, and give thanks.

The book is great as others have said. Amazon should take a note that the lead author Dr. Nessen, is a D.O. for those who do not know he is a physician and should recieve the same courtesy afforded the MD editors by having DO before his name as the other physician do.

I think everybody needs to see and read this book. I'm a medical proffesional that works in EMS as a flight nurse and the cases presented in this book made my heart bleed for the men and women overseas. They would all be home tommorow if all Americans could see the realities of war. As a flight nurse I learned a tremendous amount of information that I can use in my everyday practice. This book is a must have for every health proffesional library.

great collection of representative cases from the current wars our country is fighting. so much cutting edge trauma research and practice originates from the military so it made sense to get right to the source and see why the military does things the way it does when it comes to caring for trauma patients.

each case is accompanied by a summary and commentary along with photos. while extremely graphic compared to some of the stuff i've seen in a civilian trauma center, some of the before and after photos are nothing less of amazing.

as one of the other reviewers mentioned, this book also serves to document the dedication of the military medical personnel caring for our troops and of course the incredible sacrifices made by those who put themselves in harms way for our country.