• Debridement
– excise devitalized tissue
• Irrigation
– high pressure, solution
• Eliminate Dead Space
– fluid, blood
• Delayed Primary Closure (DPC)
– 4 - 6 days
Vietnam
• Kell, 1991:
–“A single injection of a broadspectrum antibiotic with a long halflife should be given prophylactically to personnel on the battlefield to provide bactericidal coverage from the earliest moment after injury occurs.”
» Used penicillins
• Somalia
– Pseudomonas and polymicrobial
• Russian Afghanistan Experience
– Clostridial
» Recommended PCN, Rifampin, Metronidazole, or Ceftriaxone
– Fullen, et al.
• Both the timing and the choice are important.
– Thadepalli, et al.
What Bugs?
• Yom Kippur War
– Pseudomonas – 25.6% isolates – Gm Neg bacilli – 70% isolates overall