Musculoskeletal wounds characteristic of the Second Lebanon War

Haim Cohen, Viviane Slon, Hila May, Israel Hershkovitz, Eli Peled, Doron Norman

Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology “B”, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.

DOI: 10.4236/fmar.2013.12003                

Abstract

The Second Lebanon War between Hezbollah and Israel broke out on July 12, 2006, and lasted until August 14, 2006. Out of the wounded Israeli soldiers, 128 were treated at the orthopedic departments of the Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. Aretrospective study was carried out on these 128 combatants. The objective of the study was to characterize musculoskeletal combat wounds with regard to age, type, location, mechanism, side and intensity. The average age of an injured soldier was 25.7 years. Most injuries (63.9%) were caused by shrapnel. The prevalence of injury to the lower limb was much higher compared with upper limb (43.4% vs. 28.3%). There was no side preference. A considerable number of soldiers had more than one injury (60%). The majority of wounds that occurred in the Second Lebanon War were orthopedic-related, particularly involving the upper and lower extremities. Fragmenting weapons were responsible for most injuries.

Keywords

Second Lebanon War; Musculoskeletal Injuries; IDF; Casualties; Combat

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Gal, O., Weiss, A. and Dudckiewicz, M. (2007) Injury characteristics among IDF soldiers during the Second Lebanon War. Journal of Israeli Military Medicine, 4, 3-6.
[2]	Schwartz, D., Resheff, A., Geftler, A., Weiss, A., Birenbaum, E. and Lavon, O. (2009) Aeromedical evacuation from the Second Israel-Lebanon War: A descriptive study. Military Medicine, 174, 551-556.
[3]	Owens, B.D., Kragh, J.F., Wenke, J.C., Macaitis, J., Wade, C.E. and Holcomb, J.B. (2008) Combat wounds in operation Iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. The Journal of Trauma, 64, 295-299. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e318163b875
[4]	Levin, L., Zadik, Y., Peleg, K., Bigman, G., Givon, A. and Lin, S. (2008) Incidence and severity of maxillofacial injuries during the Second Lebanon War among Israeli soldiers and civilians. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 66, 1630-1633. doi:10.1016/j.joms.2007.11.028
[5]	Beebe, G.W. and DeBakey, M.E. (1952) Battle casualties: Incidence, mortality, and logistic considerations. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield.
[6]	Reister, F.A. (1973) Battle casualties and medical statistics: US Army experience in the Korean War. University of Michigan Library, Michigan.
[7]	Hardaway, R.M. (1978) Vietnam wound analysis. The Journal of Trauma, 18, 635-643. doi:10.1097/00005373-197809000-00004
[8]	Ran, Y., Hadad, E., Daher, S., Kasirar, M., Itzhak, A., Yagurov, I., Cohen, Y., Dudckiewicz, M., BarTal, C., Esh, N. and Hirshorn, G. (2009) Injury characteristics among IDF soldiers during operation Cast Lead. Journal of Israeli Military Medicine, 6, 157-161.