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The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: Injuries, Treatment and the Trenches

Experiments in surgery and medicine on the Western Front

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Wound excision, the Carrel–Dakin method, amputation, Gillies's plastic surgery, Cushing's work on head wounds, the Thomas splint and its effect, x-rays and mobile x-ray units and their drawbacks, and Robertson's blood bank at Cambrai in 1917.

What you need to know

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Key term

Why did surgeons amputate so many limbs?

Key term

Who pioneered plastic surgery for the wounded, and what did he develop?

Key term

What did Harvey Cushing contribute to the treatment of head wounds?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was wound excision, and why did it save lives?

    Model answer

    Cutting away the dead and damaged tissue around a wound as soon as possible, which removed the material that infection fed on.

  2. 2

    What was the Carrel–Dakin method?

    Model answer

    A sterilised salt solution dripped through a tube into a wound to flush it out; it had to be made up fresh because it lost its strength after about six hours.

  3. 3

    Why did surgeons amputate so many limbs?

    Model answer

    Once infection had taken hold in a shattered arm or leg there was no drug to stop it, so removing the limb was the only way to save the man.

  4. 4

    Who pioneered plastic surgery for the wounded, and what did he develop?

    Model answer

    Harold Gillies, who developed skin grafts and reconstruction to rebuild the faces of men disfigured by shrapnel.

  5. 5

    What did Harvey Cushing contribute to the treatment of head wounds?

    Model answer

    He drew metal fragments out of the brain with a magnet and operated under local anaesthetic, which sharply raised survival rates.

  6. 6

    What was the Thomas splint, and what did it do?

    Model answer

    A frame that held a broken leg rigid and stopped the joint moving, so the bone ends could not tear the flesh and cause heavy bleeding.

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