Amputations and genital injuries increase sharply among soldiers in Afghanistan

By David Brown

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 4, 2011; 12:47 PM
Doctors and nurses treating soldiers injured in Afghanistan have begun speaking of a new "signature wound" - two legs blown off at the knee or higher, accompanied by damage to the genitals and pelvic injuries requiring at least a temporary colostomy.
Twice as many U.S. soldiers wounded in battle last year required limb amputations than in either of the two previous years. Three times as many lost more than one limb, and nearly three times as many suffered severe wounds to their genitals. In most cases the limbs are severed in the field when a soldier steps on a buried mine.

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Amputations and genital injuries increase sharply among soldiers in Afghanistan