The role of SVS volunteer vascular surgeons in the care of combat casualties: Results from Landstuhl, Germany

With a shortage of active duty vascular surgeons in the military, Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) members have been called upon to perform short-term rotations at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), the US military's receiving facility for combat injuries sustained in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. From September 2007 to May 2008, 20 SVS vascular surgeons have performed 2-week rotations at LRMC through American Red Cross and US Army sponsorship. Volunteers were surveyed for previous military and/or trauma experience. In addition to reporting number and types of procedures performed, volunteers were queried on their experience and impression of the rotation. Several volunteers have had prior military experience and all have had vascular trauma experience through residency, fellowship, and current practices. With most definitive vascular repairs being done in theater, SVS members were most often called upon for clinical expertise in the care of combat casualties and evaluation of revascularization procedures. The volunteers contributed to daily rounds, patient care, and teaching conferences, as well as actively participated in surgical procedures with the most common being wound examinations under anesthesia for which intraoperative vascular consultation was occasionally requested (5-20 per volunteer). Additional procedures that volunteers performed included: inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement, thrombectomy, revision of lower and upper extremity interposition vein grafts, retroperitoneal spine exposures, diagnostic and therapeutic angiograms, iliac stenting, and duplex ultrasound scan interrogation of vascular repairs, suspected arterial injuries, and deep vein thrombosis. All volunteers described the experience as valuable and will return if needed. With a limited number of military vascular surgeons and the unpredictable need for a vascular specialist at LRMC, civilian volunteers are playing an important role in providing high-quality vascular care for the nation's wounded soldiers by expanding vascular and endovascular capability at LRMC and contributing to general surgical critical care. As volunteers, SVS members are carrying on a tradition started by our surgical forefathers during previous US military conflicts.