@article{ref1,
title="Penetrating missile injuries during asymmetric warfare in the 2003 Gulf conflict",
journal="British journal of surgery",
year="2005",
author="Hinsley, D. E. and Rosell, P. A. E. and Rowlands, T. K. and Clasper, Jonathan C.",
volume="",
number="",
pages="-",
abstract="BACKGROUND:: War wounds produce a significant burden on medical facilities in wartime. Workload from the recent conflict was documented in order to guide future medical needs. METHODS:: All data on war injuries were collected prospectively. This information was supplemented with a review of all patients admitted during the study period. RESULTS:: During the first 2 weeks of the conflict, the sole British field hospital in the region received 482 casualties. One hundred and four were battle injuries of which nine were burns. Seventy-nine casualties had their initial surgery performed by British military surgeons and form the study group. Twenty-nine casualties (37 per cent) sustained gunshot wounds, 49 (62 per cent) suffered wounds from fragmentation weapons and one casualty detonated an antipersonnel mine. These 79 patients had a total of 123 wounds that were scored prospectively using the Red Cross Wound Classification. Twenty-seven (34 per cent) of the wounded were non-combatants; eight of these were children. Four patients (5 per cent) died. CONCLUSION:: War is changing; modern conflicts appear likely to be fought in urban or remote environments, producing different wounding patterns and placing non-combatants in the line of fire. Military medical skills training and available resources must reflect these fundamental changes in preparation for future conflicts.",
language="",
issn="0007-1323",
doi="10.1002/bjs.4911",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bjs.4911"
}