ABSTRACT
The upsurge in terrorist activity around the world has brought the spectre of blast injury to a host of countries which previously had seemed immune to the violence that has plagued the UK and Israel for decades – such atrocities have now occurred in Kenya, Tanzania, the Yemen and Spain, to name but four. This chapter explains the physics of explosions and the pathophysiology of blast injury, before outlining the diagnosis and treatment of the injuries that result, so that clinicians who have previously been unfamiliar with this area of trauma medicine may be prepared and able to deal with an influx of blast casualties when the unexpected terrorist atrocity occurs near them.
