Catastrophe-Causing Diseases
"In the history of war, disease and nonbattle injuries have resulted in the vast majority of lost combat days. Before the 19th century, infectious diseases unrelated to trauma were responsible for a much greater proportion of the deaths during war than battle-related injuries. During the Mexican War (1845–1848) and the Spanish-American War (1898) disease-related deaths outnumbered battle-related deaths by seven to one." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
With the introduction of military hygiene and disease control at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a steady decline in the number of wartime deaths attributable to diseases classically known as “war pestilence”, including cholera, dysentery, plague, smallpox, typhoid, and typhus fever." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
With the introduction of military hygiene and disease control at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a steady decline in the number of wartime deaths attributable to diseases classically known as “war pestilence”, including cholera, dysentery, plague, smallpox, typhoid, and typhus fever." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
The French and Indian Wars
"The primary emphasis was on removal of bullets within easy reach and avoidance of primary wound closure. If a wound was to be closed, an onion was placed in the wound before closure, and the wound reopened at 24 to 48 hours." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
"The wound was expected to develop swelling and pus by the fourth day postinjury, which were thought to be signs of proper wound “digestion” necessary for healing. Amputation continued to be the therapy for compound fractures. Superficial burns were treated with wine and deep full-thickness burns with hog’s lard." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
"The wound was expected to develop swelling and pus by the fourth day postinjury, which were thought to be signs of proper wound “digestion” necessary for healing. Amputation continued to be the therapy for compound fractures. Superficial burns were treated with wine and deep full-thickness burns with hog’s lard." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
The War of 1812
"Wound care during the War of 1812 (1812–1815) continued to emphasize early amputations to shorten hospital stays, reduce the risk of infection, and to reduce the trauma caused by transportation on horse-drawn vehicles. Manage- ment continued to rely upon incision and removal of foreign bodies, with fasciotomy to prevent further tissue damage." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
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The Napoleonic Wars
"It was reported that Napoleon’s surgeon, Dominique-Jean Larrey, could perform 200 surger- ies a day, or one every 7.2 minutes. Hip and shoulder joint amputations apparently took 15 seconds and 11 seconds, respectively. Larrey thought early amputation created a clean viable wound, and was reported to have had a 75% success rate in preventing infection." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).
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American Civil War
"During the American Civil War (1861–1865) some of the key components of wound care included general anesthesia, delay of primary amputation to reduce the effect of wound shock, bromine to prevent hospital gangrene, use of well-trained physicians, and the development of pavilion- type hospitals. More than 50,000 amputations were performed during this conflict... Infections included erysipelas, with a mortality rate of 8%, and hospital gangrene, with a mortality rate of 38% to 62% if untreated, but which fell to 2.6% with the use of topical bromine. Patients with these types of infections were housed together to prevent disease transmission. Tetanus was rare, but had a mortality rate of 89%. Mortality for pyemia was even higher at 97%. Although pyemia, or sepsis, resulted from only 1% of wounds, it caused 6% of deaths..." (The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection, and Critical Care).