查看文章

Civilians and military personnel alike are increasingly being exposed to explosives in war zones and other regions of political conflict and, consequently, they are suffering associated blast-related polytrauma (multiple complex injuries). Although acute, emergency-based medical care for patients with blast-related trauma has been well described, postacute clinical management—which is of greatest interest to primary care physicians and rehabilitation specialists—has not been well discussed or researched. The authors offer a description of the common injuries seen in patients with blast-related polytrauma, as well as a conceptual model of a potential evaluation and treatment strategy in the postacute setting. Although medical evaluation of a patient typically proceeds in a sequential manner based on primary symptoms, the authors advocate a parallel approach to patient evaluation based on mechanism …