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Minnesota surgeon to train military doctors
Soldiers injured in Iraq will soon get a visit from a doctor who works at HCMC. The goal is to learn new ways to help those injured by improvised explosive devices or IEDs. As an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Richard Kyle sees a lot of broken bones. "There a few different types of joints. We see some very high energy injuries." But in a recent trip to a military hospital in Germany, Dr. Kyle saw something he had never seen before, soldiers injured by improvised explosive devices. "One minute they were completely normal and the next minute, they've lost a leg or an arm or two legs and an arm," Dr. Kyle said of the soldiers he met. Thousands of U.S. soldiers have been hurt in Iraq - many with injuries caused by IEDs. "There's a huge amount of tissue damage with multiple little wounds that go through the skin that are caused by nails, rocks, glass whatever," Dr. Kyle explained. These are unique injuries that require unique treatments. That's why Dr. Kyle will again visit soldiers and surgeons. He's headed to Iraq to train military doctors on how to treat orthopaedic injuries. "It's about caring for patients and people who are injured." But finding the best treatment for soldiers requires research and doctors in Germany and Iraq don't have time for that, so the research will be done in the Twin Cities. Dr. Kyle heads the Midwest Orthopaedic Research Foundation. His lab - where scientists study orthopaedic injuries ? is developing new technology and new treatments that Dr. Kyle hopes will have an impact on the lives of thousands of soldiers. "I want to make sure that we're doing the best we can do to take care of their injuries to support them because they've done so much." Dr. Kyle ultimately hopes the research of injuries caused by IEDs will help physicians treat car crash victims or people hurt in a natural disaster here at home.
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