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Medical Education Division |
Operational Medicine 2001
Emergency War Surgery
Second United States Revision of The Emergency War Surgery NATO
Handbook
United States Department of Defense
Emergency War Surgery
Second United States Revision of The Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook
United States Department of Defense
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Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook: Part IV: Regional Wounds and Injuries: Chapter XXXIII: Wounds and Injuries of the Spinal Column and Cord Initial Closed Reduction and Stabilization of Cervical InjuriesUnited States Department of Defense Skeletal traction using Gardner-Wells skull tongs is the treatment of choice for the reduction and stabilization of cervical spine injuries (Figure 45, Table 18). While a halter or chin strap may be temporarily utilized during the initial evacuation, they are not satisfactory for long-term use. When cranial tongs are used for traction, the rule of thumb for determining the amount of weight to be applied to the tongs for fracture reduction is 5 lbs. per level of injury. For example, to reduce a C-5 fracture, you would begin with 25 lbs. of weight. If this is insufficient weight to achieve reduction, appropriate additional increments of weight can be successively applied every 20-30 minutes under radiological control until reduction is attained. The maximal amount of weight that can be safely applied to properly placed Gardner-Wells tongs is 80-90 lbs.
Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. Operational Medicine 2001 Health Care in Military Settings
This web version is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division. It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMED P-5139, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense. |
