A crash in California almost took her leg, a bomb blast in Iraq helped save it.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) want to increase awareness about the many new advances and technologies in orthopaedic care that come from what is learned while treating war-related injuries.
Today, about 70 percent of war wounds are musculoskeletal injuries and 7 percent of those with major extremity wounds also sustain loss of limbs. Trauma surgeons’ war experiences make lasting contributions to orthopaedic surgery, benefiting not only the troops but also civilians around the world. Those contributions also helped save Dominique’s leg. In fact, her orthopaedic surgeon says that his experience treating war wounds as a military surgeon armed him with the skills to treat Dominique.