Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback as a Treatment for Military PTSD: A Meta-Analysis
CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first meta-analysis to examine HRVB as a treatment for military service members with PTSD. Results indicate that HRVB may be a viable treatment approach to reduce PTSD symptomatology. Low attrition rates, ease of accessibility, and favorable participant outlook serve as additional benefits for the use of HRVB.PMID:38287778 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usae003 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 30, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jordan Kenemore Grant Benham Ruby Charak Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez Source Type: research
Aerosolized Particulate Matter and Blunting of Ciliary Dynamic Responses: Implications for Veterans and Active Duty Military in Southwest Asia
CONCLUSIONS: There is a neutralization of the dynamic ciliary response following chronic particulate matter exposure, similar to ciliary pathologies observed in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Aerosolized particulate matter endured by military personnel in the Southwest Asia may cause dysfunctional mucociliary clearance; these data help to explain the increased prevalence of respiratory pathology in individuals who are or have been deployed in this region.PMID:38287786 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usae007 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 30, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Alan D Workman Robert J Lee Noam A Cohen Source Type: research
An Assessment of Clinical Accuracy of Vital Sign-based Triage Tools Among U.S. and Coalition Forces
CONCLUSIONS: This study retrospectively applied seven triage tools to a database of 12,268 cases from the Department of Defense Trauma Registry to evaluate their performance in predicting early death or massive transfusion in combat. All scoring systems performed well with an AUROC >0.8 for both outcomes. Although the SI and MSI performed best for predicting massive transfusion (both had an AUROC of 0.89), they ranked last for assessment of mortality within 24 hours, with the other tools performing well. START, RTS, NTS, MGAP and GAP reliably identified early death and need for massive transfusion, with MGAP and GAP per...
Source: Military Medicine - January 29, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tate E Vernon Michael D April Andrew D Fisher Julie A Rizzo Brit J Long Steven G Schauer Source Type: research
What We Know About Homeless Veterans With Other-than-honorable and Punitive Discharges: Data From the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program
CONCLUSIONS: The GPD program serves hundreds of homeless Veterans with OTH and Punitive discharges every year, but they seem to be at greater risk for negative health and psychosocial outcomes and do not have the same access to VA services as other Veterans. These findings may inform policy considerations about expanding VA care and opportunities for community providers to serve Veterans with OTH and Punitive discharges.PMID:38252587 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad485 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 22, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Eric Jutkowitz Ellen McCreedy Christopher Halladay Jack Tsai Source Type: research
Evaluation of Gender Disparity in Tactical Combat Casualty Care
CONCLUSIONS: A lack of female representation in trauma training may have contributed to the higher case fatality rate of female soldiers compared to male soldiers during Operation Enduring Freedom. Female live actors and Gender Retrofit Kits can augment trauma casualty assessment and treatment training scenarios and better prepare our forces to respond to life-threatening emergencies.PMID:38252890 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad455 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 22, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Shanna R Vaughan Timothy Ballard Pamela Ward-Demo Leslie Vojta Anwar E Ahmed Amy Costello Source Type: research
Dynamics of the Oral Microbiome During Initial Military Training at Fort Benning, Georgia
CONCLUSIONS: The temporary convergence of microbiomes is coincident with a rise in communicable infections in this population. The dynamic response of microbiomes during initial military training supports similar observations in the literature of transient convergence of the human microbiome under cohabitation in the time frame including in this experiment. This population and the associated longitudinal studies allow for controlled studies of human microbiome under diverse conditions.PMID:38243767 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad488 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 20, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Kristina K Zudock Robert Player Amanda Ernlund Collin M Timm Caroline E English Michael W Ellis David R Tribble D Scott Merrell Jason W Bennett Eugene V Millar Source Type: research
Expedited Provisionalization of a Missing Crown: A Case Report
Mil Med. 2024 Jan 18:usae004. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usae004. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTProvisional restorations are required in fixed prosthodontics to protect a prepared tooth until a definitive restoration can be delivered. A patient sought treatment at a prosthodontics practice to replace a missing provisional crown until definitive treatment could be performed once the patient returned from a field exercise. This case report describes a novel way to provide a provisional restoration when other techniques are not feasible, which can be utilized in the clinic or in an austere environment.PMID:38245001 | DOI:10.1093/mil...
Source: Military Medicine - January 20, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Andrew S Ryser Steven E Handel Jennifer V Sabol Katie M Senkiw Source Type: research
Race Does Not Affect Rates of Surgical Complications at Military Treatment Facility
CONCLUSIONS: Risk-adjusted surgical complication rates do not vary by race at this military treatment facility. This suggests that postoperative racial disparities may be mitigated within a universal health care system.PMID:38241780 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad502 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 19, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Erin West Laurinda Jackson Howard Greene Donald J Lucas Kyle D Gadbois Pamela M Choi Source Type: research
When Taking Pay off the Table: A Qualitative Study of Gender Equity for Academic Leaders in the US Military
CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that equitability for pediatric GME leadership in the military heavily relied on structures and support created by former leaders and mentors. Isolating these structures within a unique context of military academic medicine can illuminate physicians' experiences to address barriers and better support equitable leadership roles in both military and civilian academic medicine.PMID:38241782 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad489 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 19, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Elizabeth V Schulz Tasha R Wyatt TingLan Ma Lauren A Maggio Source Type: research
Misuse of Tourniquets in Ukraine may be Costing More Lives and Limbs than they Save
Mil Med. 2024 Jan 17:usad503. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad503. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHands-on training and social media sites have heavily emphasized the use of tourniquets to treat limb injuries during the Ukraine war. Tourniquet overuse or misuse can lead to significant tragedy-limb loss, physiologic complications, and even death. Casualty evacuation in Ukraine often exceeds 6 hours, and the liberal use of limb tourniquets may have unintentionally increased morbidity. Tourniquet application was appropriate in 24.6% of the wounded with tourniquets in one recent publication by a Ukrainian vascular surgeon. The longer a...
Source: Military Medicine - January 19, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Rom A Stevens Michael S Baker Ostap B Zubach Michael Samotowka Source Type: research
Post-COVID-19 Condition in Military Personnel
CONCLUSION: To comprehensively address PCC in military personnel, it is imperative to foster both awareness and documentation. Creating a centralized Defense Health Agency-DoD repository for active duty service members with PCC diagnoses offers a valuable opportunity to conduct trend analysis, identify missed cases, and better understand the individual and military readiness implications of this condition. Additionally, to address the educational needs of clinicians, it is essential to develop continuing medical education and continuing nursing education programs focusing on PCC signs, symptoms, and their impact on readine...
Source: Military Medicine - January 10, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Stuart Hitchcock Samantha A Cintron Lalon Kasuske Francisco J Diaz Janet Pierce Source Type: research
Point of Use Treatment for Medical Devices: From Bedside to Battlefield
CONCLUSION: Completing POU treatment is critical to a successful surgical mission in both the hospital and austere environment. Implications to practice include implementing evidence-based POU programs that improve patient outcomes and readiness while decreasing costs.PMID:38198220 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad499 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 10, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Gina L Eberhardt Bethany I Atwood Joshua D Smith Source Type: research
Physical Fitness Tests in the Army-Legitimate Diversity or Randomness?
In conclusion, I am in favor of multi-system tests, comprised of obstacle courses mirroring potential situations in combat tasks. In my opinion, multi-system tests are superior compared to single-system function tests since they enable a comprehensive assessment of effort, coordination, and mental predispositions necessary for functioning in real-life conditions. I also support physical fitness evaluation that is not differentiated based on a soldier's gender and age, as there is no logical justification for such distinctions.PMID:38195179 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad504 (Source: Military Medicine)
Source: Military Medicine - January 9, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Andrzej Tomczak Source Type: research
Refractory Osteomyelitis in a Military Service Member Resolved With Adjunctive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Mil Med. 2024 Jan 9:usad505. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad505. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTRefractory osteomyelitis is typically defined as a chronic infection that persists or recurs despite definitive surgical management and antibiotic therapy. Cases often involve complex wounds or fractures and can be challenging to treat, resulting in multiple courses of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy and numerous surgeries over periods of months to years. Adjuncts to improve resolution of these complicated infections are sorely needed. Here, we describe the case of a 47-year-old active duty military member who sustained an open right ...
Source: Military Medicine - January 9, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jeffrey Spiro Michael Gedestad Piotr Wisniewski Source Type: research
The Military Health History: An Educational Initiative to Improve Veteran Healthcare
CONCLUSION: The lecture resulted in a statistically significant increase over 6 months in both the likelihood and confidence parameters. The team believes that this result indicates that the students demonstrated useful retention of the lecture material. Our hope is that these students continue to employ the military health history throughout their years of clinical work. In the future, we plan to survey veterans immediately following Veterans Health Administration clinic visits with members of our study population to assess the patient's perceived benefit of the military health history. The team will continue to investiga...
Source: Military Medicine - January 9, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Michael Brands Caitlin Martin-Klinger Amanda M Raines Randolph Roig Source Type: research
