ORTHOPEDIC INJURIES EXPERIENCED BY UNITED-STATES PRISONERS OF WAR DURING OPERATION DESERT-STORM - A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

U.S. prisoners of war from Operation Desert Storm suffered significant orthopedic injuries. The repatriated prisoners of war (RPOWs) have be en medically evaluated over a 3-year period with orthopedic follow-up. A significant proportion of the musculoskeletal injuries were located around the neck and spine, shoulder, and upper extremity. Aircraft ej ection was the cause of the majority of these injuries. Lower extremit y injuries after ejection, aside from the knee, were not reported. Fla il injuries of the lower extremities were absent as well. These result s were examined with reference to Vietnam RPOW data.