Report of surgical Repair in the First Group of Atomic Radiation Injuries

This is a reprint from Volume 103, pages 2-6. Color illustrations. References. Stamps and notations on front cover. Minor edge wear on front page. Minor edge tears. James Barrett Brown, MD, (1899-1971) was chairman of Plastic Surgery as the Washington University Medical School in St. Louis from 1955 until 1968. At Washington University, Dr. James Barrett Brown helped introduce the revolutionary concept of using large skin grafts for the treatment of severe burns and described how to make the grafts work. Later, Brown assembled a large team of plastic surgeons to treat wounded veterans returning from World War II, which led to the development of new techniques and strengthened the role of plastic surgeons in reconstruction. The work reported in this article was done in part under the auspices of the Atomic Energy Commission. This article reported on the surgical repair of the first known group of atomic radiation injuries (without thermal injury) with the result that no amputations had been necessary and that all patients were back at full time occupations. These were injuries caused by pure atomic radiation and were not thermal injuries of atomic origin. If future patients do survive, the report opined that local injuries caused by atomic radiation may be repaired surgically and that successful rehabilitation was possible. The Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) is the official scientific publication of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Formerly known as Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics (1905-1994), JACS has the goal of providing its readership the highest quality rapid retrieval of information relevant to surgeons. JACS is a monthly peer-reviewed journal publishing original contributions on all aspects of surgery. These contributions include original scientific articles, collective reviews, experimental investigations with clear clinical relevance.…