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Treating Pain on the Battlefield: A Warrior’s Perspective

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Abstract

The current conflicts in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom; commenced October 2001) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom; commenced March 2003) have been remarkable due to the more than 90% survival rate among wounded warriors. Although this statistic is a historic achievement by the military’s medical services, other medical issues have taken on greater emphasis as more casualties from war survive than ever before. Pain management of United States wounded, in particular, has been a medical issue of increasing importance, as modern understanding of the detrimental effects of pain on recovery and rehabilitation becomes clearer. In this review, a warrior’s perspective of military pain management is explored and potential for improvement discussed.

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Disclosure

Departmental support: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Department of Anesthesia. Congressional grant: John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Defense and Veterans Pain Management Initiative, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Building 2, Ward 44, Room 4434, Washington, DC, 20307, USA

    Chester C. Buckenmaier III, Hisani Brandon-Edwards, David Borden Jr & John Wright

Authors
  1. Chester C. Buckenmaier III
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  2. Hisani Brandon-Edwards
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  3. David Borden Jr
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  4. John Wright
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Correspondence to Chester C. Buckenmaier III.

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Buckenmaier, C.C., Brandon-Edwards, H., Borden, D. et al. Treating Pain on the Battlefield: A Warrior’s Perspective. Curr Pain Headache Rep 14, 1–7 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-009-0090-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-009-0090-1

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