ARTERIAL GRAFTING IN MILITARY SURGERY

In order to place the subject of arterial grafting, and our own particular interest in freeze-dried arterial homografts, in proper perspective in the wide scope of military surgery, it is fitting to open this presentation with a brief review. The incidence of injury to major vessels in casualties of modern warfare has been estimated as approximating 1%. 1 In the future, with body armor to protect against wounds of the abdomen and thorax, it is to be expected that the incidence of damage to the major vessels of the extremities will be increased and the treatment of these injuries will assume even greater importance in the over-all picture. The results of treatment of vascular injuries, evaluated in terms of amputation rates, showed little, if any, improvement in World War II as compared to World War I. Although ligation of the artery involved was the usual method of treatment in both