Authors: Xavier Noel Pin Harry, Vincent S. Gallicchio.
Military medicine is a field of medicine that pertains to the needs and treatment of soldiers and military personnel. Although there is a great deal of overlap between civilian medicine and military medicine, military personnel are likely to experience more nuanced forms of injury than their civilian counterparts and thus require novel treatment methods that are unique to the combat environment. Within battlefield environments, there are an increasing number of traumatic injuries that result from explosive devices, high-caliber projectile weapons, and an array of devastating chemical weapons. Many of the injuries are widespread and affect multiple organ systems. Current treatment methods incorporate alleviation of pain and symptoms, life-saving surgeries to prevent further damage and repair present ones, as well as a variety of prosthetic devices and other assistive equipment. Although there is currently no treatment method that can serve to restore and regenerate damaged tissue resulting from the traumatic injuries currently, new avenues of medicine are being worked on. Potential applications of stem cells within military medicine will be reviewed as well as an exploration of the current state of stem cell research on regenerative medicine. Specifically, tissue regenerative technologies of various organ systems and the storage of these tissues will be explored. Commentary will also be provided specifically to field medicine within a combat environment in which novel new protocols may be implemented with a stem cell application.
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