Lower Leg Injuries in Dismounted Military Personnel from Buried Explosives

Leg injuries, including traumatic amputations, from buried blasts are a significant injury, often resulting in the inability of the dismounted Soldier to return to duty. The soil from a buried charge contributes significantly to the injuries seen in the Soldier. The soil from a buried charge can interact through the soil bubble containing the detonation products acting as a piston, and/or the soil ejecta or particles that are thrown out after the bubble has burst impacting the individual. Building on previous landmine studies in which various legforms were placed directly over the charge, this study investigated injuries to surrogate lower legs that were at varied radial distances from the charge. Two different soil loading conditions and their contributions to injuries were explored. Equal charge sizes buried at different depths were detonated to expose up to four legs. Some of the legs were protected with a steel shield to reduce the impacts from the soil ejecta. Fracture patterns differed depending on the primary mechanism of soil loading. The fractures were seen higher on the leg when the primary loading mechanism was from the soil ejecta. Additionally, the distance from the charge affected the severity of injury.