The severity degree estimation for the lower extremity blast injury

The present review is concerned with the modern state of the problem connected with the severity degree estimation of the lower extremity blast injury. The specific character of modern combat activity is considered to be the prevalence of the blast trauma in the structure of casualties, this trauma amounting up to 69% of all the combat injuries. The problem of the adequate unbiased estimation of the severity degree for this kind of trauma appears to be critical, because it is important for the appraisal of the necessary volume of medical care provided for the casualties and optimal assignment of the casualties to the medical evacuation stages beginning from the combat zone up to the specialized trauma center. The combat blast trauma is distinguished from the civilian trauma, it also differs from blast injuries occurring during technological disasters. In this regard, the use of traditional estimation parameters for the lower extremity trauma severity, based on clinical findings of civilian injuries, seems not possible. The development of appropriate severity estimation technique for the lower extremity blast trauma is essential not only for the medical care, but also for the adequate experimental modeling processes using human cadavers and biomorphic models, and the development of virtual “mathematical” simulators. Currently, investigators are involved in developing specific severity degree estimation scales for the lower extremity blast injury, based on the case histories analysis and casualties’ follow-up. Foreign experts have proposed a number of assessment classifications of mine-explosive injury, allowing to formulate a diagnosis and determine the severity of the injured explosive limb injuries. In our country, there is currently no generally accepted classification developed in relation to the explosive injury of the lower extremities, but the methods proposed by domestic military field surgeons and traumatologists allow us to effectively assess the severity of this injury and make a certain sorting decision.

military medicine, war surgery, blast trauma, mine-blast trauma, blast injury severity estimation, medical sorting, gunshot wounds, lower extremity blast trauma classification, the stages of medical evacuation