Combat Radiology: Diagnostic Imaging of Blast and Ballistic Injuries

by Les R. Folio

Overview

Combat Radiology provides unique insights into a military radiologist’s role in the modern battlefield environment. Drawing on his recent experiences in Iraq, Col. Les Folio, a retired air force radiologist and flight surgeon with over twenty years of service, presents a comprehensive introduction to diagnostic imaging technology for the deployed military physician. Topics in the book include descriptions of imaging capabilities of hospitals in deployed military bases in combat zones; practical imaging techniques and terminology associated with penetrating/perforating blast and ballistic injuries; recent medical advances on the battlefield; and the changing role of imaging modalities in combat situations. Additionally, specific anatomic and pathologic imaging cases from combat situations are presented, including traumatic brain injury, chest, abdomen/pelvis, and skeletal trauma. Combat Radiology will appeal not only to military radiologists and surgeons, but also to civilian emergency radiologists and trauma physicians who encounter patients with ballistic and blast injuries resulting from armed conflict, terrorism, and disaster situations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441958549
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	08/03/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Col. Les Folio, a retired air force radiologist and flight surgeon with over twenty years of service, presents a comprehensive introduction to diagnostic imaging technology for the deployed military physician.

Table of Contents

The Combat Environment: Preparation for Deployment.- Echelons of Combat Casualty Care and Associated Imaging Resources.- Blast and Ballistics: Types, Background, Terminology.- to Imaging of Penetrating/Perforating Blast and Ballistic Injuries.- Significant Medical Advances on the Battlefield and the Changing Roles of Imaging.- Imaging Thresholds of Salvageability of Life, Limb, and Eyesight.- Imaging Traumatic Brain Injury On and Off the Battlefield.- Chest Imaging in a Battlefield Hospital.- Abdomen and Pelvis Imaging in Iraq.- Skeletal Trauma in Iraq.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: David James Dries, MSE, MD (Regions Hospital)
Description: This monograph describes the approaches to imaging of patients injured in combat used in recent military conflicts.
Purpose: Radiology in austere military situations is presented as well as CT and other images of typically seen injuries.
Audience: Military physicians or surgeons, intensivists treating military causalities in a follow-up role, and radiologists desiring an introduction to the practicalities of military radiology are an appropriate audience for this work. The author is a retired Air Force radiologist.
Features: The book interestingly reflects a soldier's experience rather than the technical exercise of radiology. It describes deployment and resources available to radiologists working in combat casualty care and reviews mechanisms of injury suffered in combat, paying particular attention to traumatic brain injury, a major cause of morbidity in recent military conflicts. Concluding chapters discuss the practicalities of imaging the chest, abdomen, pelvis, and skeleton in the combat setting. Chapters are concise and written in a conversational tone, rather than in an exhaustive technical fashion. Color photographs are provided in a limited number of situations. The key to a work on imaging, obviously, is the quality of CT and plain radiograph reproductions. Given the environment in which many of these images are obtained, the quality is sufficient to create an adequate technical presentation. Three-dimensional CT reconstructions reproduce with superb quality. Reproduction quality in simple CT slices is adequate but not outstanding. Each chapter has an ample reference list to the primary literature that includes specific radiology references as well as overview papers describing mechanism of injuries and the military environment.
Assessment: This is a good introduction to the unique technical considerations facing radiologists in the current combat environment.

Doody's Review Service

From the reviews:

“This monograph describes the approaches to imaging of patients injured in combat used in recent military conflicts. … Military physicians or surgeons, intensivists treating military causalities in a follow-up role, and radiologists desiring an introduction to the practicalities of military radiology are an appropriate audience for this work. The author is a retired Air Force radiologist. … This is a good introduction to the unique technical considerations facing radiologists in the current combat environment.” (David J. Dries, Doody’s Review Service, October, 2010)

“Combat Radiology in essence comprises 3 books in a single volume. … With the aid of diagrams and illustrations, many in color, the author shows how ultrasound and computed tomography with multiplanar reconstruction and 3-dimensional volume-rendered images are used … . Combat Radiology is a valuable resource for any physician involved in military or emergency medicine … . will appeal to anyreader with an interest in how medicine is practiced on today’s battlefields.” (Leonard Berlin, Journal of the American Medical Association, December, 2010)

“Combat Radiology: Diagnostic Imaging of Blast and Ballistic Injuries is a good introduction to the imaging of patients injured in recent military conflicts. … Dr Folio is extremely well versed and knowledgeable in this field. … Excellent-quality images … are used to convey the extent of injuries sustained and to explain differing patterns of injuries. … it is more intended to be a general application for all health care providers involved in the care of patients who have blast- and ballistic-type injuries.” (Giang T. Nguyen, Radiology, Vol. 260 (3), September, 2011)

From the Publisher

Reviewer: David J. Dries, MD (University of Minnesota Medical School)
Description: This monograph describes the approaches to imaging of patients injured in combat used in recent military conflicts.
Purpose: Radiology in austere military situations is presented as well as CT and other images of typically seen injuries.
Audience: Military physicians or surgeons, intensivists treating military causalities in a follow-up role, and radiologists desiring an introduction to the practicalities of military radiology are an appropriate audience for this work. The author is a retired Air Force radiologist.
Features: The book interestingly reflects a soldier's experience rather than the technical exercise of radiology. It describes deployment and resources available to radiologists working in combat casualty care and reviews mechanisms of injury suffered in combat, paying particular attention to traumatic brain injury, a major cause of morbidity in recent military conflicts. Concluding chapters discuss the practicalities of imaging the chest, abdomen, pelvis, and skeleton in the combat setting. Chapters are concise and written in a conversational tone, rather than in an exhaustive technical fashion. Color photographs are provided in a limited number of situations. The key to a work on imaging, obviously, is the quality of CT and plain radiograph reproductions. Given the environment in which many of these images are obtained, the quality is sufficient to create an adequate technical presentation. Three-dimensional CT reconstructions reproduce with superb quality. Reproduction quality in simple CT slices is adequate but not outstanding. Each chapter has an ample reference list to the primary literature that includes specific radiology references as well as overview papers describing mechanism of injuries and the military environment.
Assessment: This is a good introduction to the unique technical considerations facing radiologists in the current combat environment.

Doody Reviews