Citation

Rhon D, Cook C. J. Knee Surg. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Georg Thieme Verlag)

DOI

10.1055/s-0042-1753538

PMID

35896421

Abstract

Military service members by nature of their occupational hazards are highly susceptible to musculoskeletal injury. Orthopaedic disorders of the knee are some of the most prevalent, causing a tremendous impact on military readiness. In 2017 and 2018, there were over 2.5 million and 1.8 million lost workdays, respectively, related due to knee injuries in the U.S. Army alone (not including the Air Force, Navy, or Marines). The U.S. Defense Health Agency manages one of the largest health systems in the world. The data contained within this closed single-payer government health system allows for a robust assessment of care pathways, where care is captured longitudinally almost exclusively within one system. Instead of samples of the population, the Military Health System (MHS) Data Repository allows for population-level assessment of large cohorts of individuals sustaining various knee injuries and the real-world care patterns associated with the management of those injuries.

To improve care for these individuals, understanding epidemiological trends and expected outcomes can help set the stage for changes in care delivery, identification of problems that need to be addressed, and new questions that can be answered in prospective trials. In Part I of a two-part series on knee injuries, four studies within this special issue of the Journal of Knee Surgery address efforts to better understand the impact of knee injuries...

Language: en