Treating pain on the battlefield: a warrior's perspective.

The current conflicts in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom; commenced October 2001) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom; commenced March 2003) have been remarkable due to the more than 90% survival rate among wounded warriors. Although this statistic is a historic achievement by the military's medical services, other medical issues have taken on greater emphasis as more casualties from war survive than ever before. Pain management of United States wounded, in particular, has been a medical issue of increasing importance, as modern understanding of the detrimental effects of pain on recovery and rehabilitation becomes clearer. In this review, a warrior's perspective of military pain management is explored and potential for improvement discussed.