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Background:

A prospective, longitudinal analysis of injuries sustained by a large combat-deployed maneuver unit has not been previously performed.

Methods:

A detailed description of the combat casualty care statistics, distribution of wounds, and mechanisms of injury incurred by a US Army Brigade Combat Team during “The Surge” phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom was performed using a centralized casualty database and an electronic medical record system.

Results:

Among the 4,122 soldiers deployed, there were 500 combat wounds in 390 combat casualties. The combat casualty rate for the Brigade Combat Team was 75.7 per 1,000 soldier combat-years. The% killed in action (KIA) was 22.1%, and the% died of wounds was 3.2%. The distribution of these wounds was as follows: head/neck 36.2%, thorax 7.5%, abdomen 6.9%, and extremities 49.4%. The percentage of combat wounds showed a significant …