[Etiological argument about the Trench Foot]

Hist Sci Med. 2004 Jul-Sep;38(3):315-32.
[Article in French]

Abstract

The Trench Foot was described during the Napoleon's wars but its clinical picture dates from 1915. As a result of soldiers' life in trenches, it was recognized as a neurological, circulatory and infectious disease which struck thousands of fighters (chiefly French and English). At the beginning it was considered as a simple "frostbite" and troublesome for the military physicians who did know know how to cure this supposedly dermatological disease. More than 200 papers were published about the Trench Foot and the numerous individual inventions to protect the soldier's foot from mud, rain, cold and compression. As this issue is found in most testimonies of the fighters that proves it was a real and further suffering in the trenches.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Disease / etiology*
  • France
  • Germany
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Immersion Foot / history*
  • Military Medicine / history*
  • United Kingdom
  • World War I*