Incidence and Epidemiology of Combat Injuries Sustained During “The Surge” Portion of Operation Iraqi Freedom by a U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team

Abstract

There was a significantly higher proportion of head/neck wounds compared with previous U.S. conflicts. The 22.1% KIA was comparable with previous U.S. conflicts despite improvements in individual/vehicular body armor and is largely attributable to the lethality of improvised explosive devices. The lethality of a gunshot wound in Operation Iraqi Freedom has decreased to 4.6% with the use of individual body armor.