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A Cosmetic Surgeon’s Thoughts on Memorial Day
By admin | June 11, 2010
Thoughts on Memorial Day From a Former Military Surgeon
As is my personal tradition for many years, I don my Army uniform and join the public and past and present members of the military at the traditional memorial services at the Los Angeles National Cemetery here in West Los Angeles adjacent to the Westwood UCLA campus. The cemetery, as nearly all military cemeteries are, has a certain beauty and holiness about it. 85,000 military are buried here cemetery.
As we listen to speeches and commemorations from soldiers past and present and our civilian leaders including Governor Schwarzenegger, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, there is plenty of time for thought. I think particularly about some of the advances in medical care that have followed war-time experience.
Today, in 2010, surgery upon blood vessels, so-called “vascular surgery,” is very common. Blood vessels are rerouted, bypassed, all of which allows injured patients whether in the civilian or military sector often to still have functioning arms and legs. During the civil war, the most common operation was amputation. Nearly every injury to the extremities was addressed by amputation. There was no attempt at repair and the surgical world at that time being unsophisticated did not have the ability to save limbs which typically are lost because of damage to the major veins and arteries.
Even in World War I and World War II, not much progress had been made in salvaging severely damaged arms and legs. But during the Vietnam War, particularly due to the activities of one surgeon, Colonel Norman Rich, battlefield and military hospital advances were rapid such that techniques were used to repair and bypass and replace injured blood vessels such that the amputation rate was much lower.
Yes, wars are horrible. Nonetheless, a positive by-product of recent wars has been enormous advances in battlefield medical care, including rapid evacuation of the wounded. Today, 99% of all injured soldiers who reach a battlefield medical facility will survive their wounds. An amazing accomplishment!
Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Former Major, Medical Corps, U.S. Army
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