Spring Break
Report may help soldiers with injuries return to duty
Issue date: 2/28/08
Col. Steven Cohen, of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Hopkins, recently released a report that may improve soldiers' return-to-duty rate after non-combat injuries.
Chronic pain associated with non-combat injuries is the primary cause of wartime soldier attrition today. When injuries are treated outside the theaters of operation, only about 2 percent of the hurt soldiers return to duty.
However, according to Cohen, when these soldiers are treated in field hospitals, the rate can be as high as 95 percent.
The report states that 107 of 113 soldiers treated for non-combat-related pain in a Baghdad hospital between October 2005 and September 2006 were able to return to duty.
A previous study by Cohen indicated that only three of 162 soldiers evacuated for treatment to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. or the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany between April 2003 and July 2004 returned to active duty.
Non-combat injuries are defined in the studies as conditions caused by training, athletic activity and accidents. Common complaints were sciatica, back pain and pain in the extremities.
Treatment included measures such as epidural steroid injections, trigger point injections, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, neuropathic pain drugs and opioids.
In the first study, the soldiers did not receive such treatments until weeks after experiencing injury, while those in the new study were treated much earlier, which Cohen's report says is key in getting soldiers back to active duty.
Another factor in the low return rates for evacuated soldiers is the time spent away from their units, which weakens the soldiers' bonds to fellow troops.
Cohen's report was co-authored by anesthesiologist Maj. Ron L. White, who serves in the U.S. Army. Cohen serves in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Chronic pain associated with non-combat injuries is the primary cause of wartime soldier attrition today. When injuries are treated outside the theaters of operation, only about 2 percent of the hurt soldiers return to duty.
However, according to Cohen, when these soldiers are treated in field hospitals, the rate can be as high as 95 percent.
The report states that 107 of 113 soldiers treated for non-combat-related pain in a Baghdad hospital between October 2005 and September 2006 were able to return to duty.
A previous study by Cohen indicated that only three of 162 soldiers evacuated for treatment to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. or the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany between April 2003 and July 2004 returned to active duty.
Non-combat injuries are defined in the studies as conditions caused by training, athletic activity and accidents. Common complaints were sciatica, back pain and pain in the extremities.
Treatment included measures such as epidural steroid injections, trigger point injections, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, neuropathic pain drugs and opioids.
In the first study, the soldiers did not receive such treatments until weeks after experiencing injury, while those in the new study were treated much earlier, which Cohen's report says is key in getting soldiers back to active duty.
Another factor in the low return rates for evacuated soldiers is the time spent away from their units, which weakens the soldiers' bonds to fellow troops.
Cohen's report was co-authored by anesthesiologist Maj. Ron L. White, who serves in the U.S. Army. Cohen serves in the U.S. Army Reserve.
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