LAUSR

he prevalence of combat-related spinal injuries has T been reported to be higher in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (2001-present) than at any other time in military history. Characteristic wounding patterns from these wars are associated with long-term morbidity, such as low lumbar burst fractures and lumbo-sacral dissociations. However, the majority of combat-injured personnel sustain spinal injuries that are similar to civilian counterparts. Studies conducted among combat casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan maintain an 11% incidence of spinal trauma and the risk of spinal injury in the range of 4.4 per 10,000 deployed servicemembers. The long-term healthcare requirements of individuals with spinal injuries sustained in combat, or civilians for that matter, are not well characterized. We sought to evaluate the extent of healthcare resource utilization among individuals with combat-related spinal trauma, including prescription opioid use, outpatient visits, and new chronic medications in the years after injury. In this work, servicemembers with spinal injuries were compared to a group of matched controls with no history of combat-related trauma.