Afghanistan and Iraq amputation statistics: 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020
Anstract: This annual statistics report provides information on the number of UK service personnel who experienced an amputation for the five-year period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020. An amputation is the traumatic (accidental) or surgical removal of part of the body, and can range from the loss of entire limbs, to the loss of part of a finger or toe. The numbers of “significant multiple amputees”; comprising of the loss of more than one limb, and the number of UK service personnel with an amputation who have been medically discharged have been provided. Information on the number of UK service personnel who suffered a traumatic or surgical amputation resulting from injuries sustained in Afghanistan and Iraq has also been provided.
Abstract: Context: In response to the opioid crisis, federal guidelines were implemented, including the Veterans Health Administration's (VA) Opioid Safety Initiative in 2013. The impact of policies on patients near the end of life is unknown. Objective: Examine temporal trends in opioid prescribing, pain, and opioid overdoses among Veterans near the end of life. Methods: Retrospective, time series analysis of VA decedents between October 2009 and September 2018 whose next-of-kin participated in VA's Bereaved Family Survey (BFS). Using multivariate regression to adjust for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, we examined temporal trends in outpatient opioid prescribing, uncontrolled pain based on BFS report, and opioid overdose-related hospitalizations, in the last month of life, overall and by clinical diagnosis (cancer versus non-cancer). Results: Among 79,409 decedents, mean daily outpatient opioid dose in morphine milligram equivalents in the last month of life decreased from 4.6 mg in 2010 to 2.1 mg in 2018 (adjusted change -0.20 mg/year; P