EARLY TREATMENT OF MAXILLOFACIAL BATTLE CASUALTIES: A Resume of Four Hundred and Twenty-One Cases

THIS is a résumé of the cases seen by a plastic maxillofacial surgery team of an auxiliary surgical group attached to one of the United States armies. It covers the period including the Battle of Normandy, the Battle of France, the Battle of the Ardennes, the Battle of the Rhineland and the Battle of Central Germany. The work was done in evacuation hospitals. It is not a detailed account of all the work done, nor is it a detailed description of individual cases. It is intended only to call attention to certain principles and to mention in summary fashion some of the more interesting and unusual aspects.

STATISTICAL STUDY

Total number of operative cases.......................... 421 Total deaths............................................ 3 Mortality rate........................................... 0.712% (Note: Of the 3 patients who died, 2 had associated extensive cerebral damage and 1 had an associated penetrating wound of the large bowel.) Breaking the collection of cases