Failure of Indomethacin and Radiation to Prevent Blast-induced Heterotopic Ossification in a Sprague-Dawley Rat Model.

Background: Although use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and low-dose irradiation has demonstrated efficacy in preventing heterotopic ossification (HO) after THA and surgical treatment of acetabular fractures, these modalities have not been assessed after traumatic blast amputations where HO is a common complication that can arise in the residual limb.

Questions/purposes: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of indomethacin and irradiation in preventing HO induced by high-energy blast trauma in a rat model.

Methods: Thirty-six Sprague-Dawley rats underwent hind limb blast amputation with a submerged explosive under water followed by irrigation and primary wound closure.

Rat Model of Brain Injury to Occupants of Vehicles Targeted by Land Mines: Mitigation by Elastomeric Frame Designs.

Many victims of blast traumatic brain injury (TBI) are occupants of vehicles targeted by land mines. A rat model of under-vehicle blast TBI was used to test the hypothesis that the ensuing neuropathology and altered behavior are mitigated by vehicle frame designs that dramatically reduce blast-induced acceleration (G force). Male rats were restrained on an aluminum platform that was accelerated vertically at up to 2850g, in response to detonation of an explosive positioned under a second platform in contact with the top via different structures.

Pulsatile Lavage of Musculoskeletal Wounds Causes Muscle Necrosis and Dystrophic Calcification in a Rat Model.

Background: Adequate irrigation of open musculoskeletal injuries is considered the standard of care to decrease bacterial load and other contaminants. While the benefit of debris removal compared with the risk of further seeding by high-pressure lavage has been studied, the effects of irrigation on muscle have been infrequently reported. Our aim in the present study was to assess relative damage to muscle by pulsatile lavage compared with bulb-syringe irrigation.

Aeromedical evacuation-relevant hypobaria worsens axonal and neurologic injury in rats after underbody blast-induced hyperacceleration.

Background: Occupants of military vehicles targeted by explosive devices often suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and are typically transported by the aeromedical evacuation (AE) system to a military medical center within a few days. This study tested the hypothesis that exposure of rats to AE-relevant hypobaria worsens cerebral axonal injury and neurologic impairment caused by underbody blasts.

Methods: Anesthetized adult male rats were secured within cylinders attached to a metal plate, simulating the hull of an armored vehicle.

Central Nervous System Changes Induced by Underbody Blast-Induced Hyperacceleration: An in Vivo Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study.

Blast-related traumatic brain injury (bTBI) resulting from improvised explosive devices is the hallmark injury of recent wars, and affects many returning veterans who experienced either direct or indirect exposure. Many of these veterans have long-term neurocognitive symptoms. However, there is very little evidence to show whether blast-induced acceleration alone, in the absence of secondary impacts, can cause mild TBI.