Blast-induced injury of air-containing organs

ALTHOUGH TERRORISM has been present for years, the number of serious terror incidents more than tripled in recent years. Access to information on the Internet has facilitated tremendous technological advancement in terrorists’ destructive capabilities. This underscores the importance of appropriate education within the medical system and the need for careful advanced planning to cope with terror attacks. Terrorists use various instruments, including explosives and chemical or biological weapons. Because of the controls on access to stockpiles of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, conventional explosives are the most common tools for terrorist attacks. The number of lives lost, the number of people injured, and the damage to infrastructure resulting from bombings are orders of magnitude higher than those caused by chemical or biological incidents. This contradicts the common perception that unconventional weapons are more dangerous than explosives. Because of the increasing risk of terrorist attacks, physicians must become familiar with the characteristics of contemporary explosive devices and the spectrum of injuries inflicted by blasts and explosions. 1,2