MILITARY MEDICINE, 181, 11/12:26, 2016
Improving Outcomes Following Extremity Trauma: The Need
for a Multidisciplinary Approach
MAJ Daniel J. Stinner, MC USA
ABSTRACT Extremity injuries contribute a significant amount to the overall disability of combat-injured soldiers.
Tracking patient outcomes allows military health care providers to gain a better understanding of the disability associ-
ated with various injury patterns. Only recently have orthopedic surgeons begun to collect functional outcome mea-
sures, and perhaps even more importantly, have begun to collect patient-reported outcomes. There is a growing body
of evidence demonstrating the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to optimize outcomes in patients following
severe extremity trauma. Tracking the outcomes of these interventions longitudinally will ultimately provide the mili-
tary surgeon with an evidence-based plan to treat severe combat-related extremity injuries, leading to optimal care for
future combat injured patients.
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”—Winston Churchill
INTRODUCTION
Extremity injuries contribute a signi
ficant amount to the
overall disability of combat-injured soldiers. For soldiers
undergoing a physical evaluation board for un
fitting condi-
tions caused by a battle
field injury, 3 out of the top 5 and 6
out of the top 10 are orthopedic/extremity conditions.
1
Fur-
thermore, 57% of combat-injured soldiers had un
fitting con-
ditions that were only orthopedic. Of soldiers medically
evacuated with a head, thorax, or abdominal injury with a
concomitant orthopedic injury, the orthopedic injury was the
primary un
fitting condition in over 75% of the patients.
1
In
a follow-up study consisting of a cohort of these patients
whose primary un
fitting condition was osteoarthritis, it was
directly attributable to combat injury in 92% of cases and
occurred in as little as 19 ± 10 months following the injury.
2
This necessitates direct attention to examining lessons learned
related to orthopedic injury so that every effort is made to
optimize the functional recovery of soldiers injured in future
con
flicts. As the nation transitions to an interwar period, it
provides an ideal time to re
flect on the advances in the treat-
ment of severe extremity injuries to identify
“lessons learned”
that will ultimately result in improving the military health care
capability for the next con
flict.
IMPORTANCE OF TRACKING OUTCOMES
Patient outcomes help military health care providers under-
stand disability. Although the desired outcome is to return a
patient to his or her maximal level of function, historically,
orthopedic outcomes focus on factors such as radiographic
union, alignment, development of arthritis, and the presence
of postoperative complications such as infection. Only
recently have orthopedic surgeons begun to collect functional
outcome measures, and perhaps even more importantly, have
begun to collect patient-reported outcomes.
The extreme value of collecting relevant outcomes assess-
ments was identi
fied early during the conflicts and at the
same time, the inherent dif
ficulties with doing so were real-
ized to include additional time and infrastructure require-
ments. However, there is still a signi
ficant need for more
relevant surgical outcome assessments to assist in guiding
dif
ficult decision-making, such as the decision to amputate or
attempt limb salvage in the severe extremity injury.
3
How-
ever, as we have entered a low volume combat casualty
flow
era, it can provide an opportunity to evaluate the outcomes
achieved from the con
flicts more thoroughly in an attempt
for us, as providers, to continue to learn and improve.
When examined closely, patients do not do as well as ini-
tially perceived by their physicians. For example, Lebrun et al
recently reported long-term outcomes of patients with a rela-
tively simple fracture (patella) treated operatively.
4
Even at
6.5 years following surgery, patients still had signi
ficant
functional de
ficits despite the fracture being healed. Exten-
sion power and Biodex dynamometric testing revealed de
fi-
cits of a quarter to one-third of the uninjured contralateral
extremity. In addition, over half of the patients required an
additional surgery due to symptomatic hardware.
4
This study
highlights the fact that even with a simple fracture pattern
that goes on to radiographic union following surgery,
patients can still have signi
ficant long-term functional deficits
as a result of their injury.
Now, consider the effects seen with more severe extremity
trauma, such as those resulting from combat. In a large pro-
spective observational study, the Lower Extremity Assess-
ment Project (LEAP) Study Group showed the long-term
consequences of severe lower extremity trauma in a civilian
population. At 7 years following injury, just over one-third
The Center for the Intrepid, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilita-
tion, Brooke Army Medical Center, 3851 Rogers Brooke Drive, Fort Sam
Houston, TX 78234.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not
re
flect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army,
Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00511
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