As a top-ranked, world-renowned academic medical center and home to the most advanced medical facilities in the United States, UCLA Health offers innovative care and the latest in medical technology. Since 2007, UCLA Health's Operation Mend has been providing advanced surgical and medical treatment for post-9/11 era service members and veterans injured during combat operations or while training for service. The original focus of Operation Mend was to engage UCLA’s world-class experts in plastic and reconstructive surgery to rebuild the faces of service members who had suffered highly complex facial trauma. The program expanded to provide subspecialty surgical and medical specialty treatment in a variety of clinical areas, as well as comprehensive psychological health care for eligible post-9/11-era service members, veterans and their families. All care, care coordination, travel and lodging are provided at no absolutely no cost to the veterans or service members and their caregivers.
Along with advanced surgical care, Operation Mend is distinguished by its focus on including the warriors’ family in care and providing comprehensive case management, coordination and social support that helps eliminate barriers to treatment.
The highly esteemed medical directors of UCLA Health Operation Mend’s physical injury program are Dr. Christopher Crisera and Dr. Kodi Azari. They, in consultation with the Operation Mend team, draw on a multitude of UCLA Health clinical speciality areas.
Click on the links below for more information on each specialty area:
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Dermatology
- Pulsed Dye Laser treatment for improvement of Erythema of Scars
- Fraxel Laser and other fractionated lasers and devices for treatment of scars
- Lasers for removal of hair from hair bearing skin flaps to non hair bearing areas and removal of irregular growing hairs in scars
Maxillofacial/Dentistry
- Comprehensive evaluation
- Nasal stents for surgical reconstructions (keeps the orifice open)
- Facial Prosthetics including auricular prosthesis (lost due to I.E.D.'s)
- Intra oral prosthesis including mandibular resection appliances and maxillary obturators (post implant placement)
Neurology and Mild TBI Diagnostics
- Evaluation and treatment of symptoms relating to concussion
- Multidisciplinary neurological consultation in conjunction with neuropsychological screening
- Clinical reaction time testing
- Clinical balance testing
- Eye tracking screening examinations
- Multimodal clinical MRI with advanced diagnostics (when indicated)
- Video continuous EEG (when indicated)
- Neuroendocrine lab testing (when indicated)
- Rehabilitation
Neuropsychology
- Neuropsychological assessment for patients with post-acute, mild to severe TBI, mood disorders, PTSD, substance abuse, chronic pain, trauma exposure and re-adjustment, and other conditions
- 20+ board certified neuropsychologists provide detailed recommendations for referral sources, the patient and the patient’s family/caregivers
- Translate findings of objective cognitive measures into tailored recommendations focused on compensation for deficits and accentuation of strengths
- Flexible battery approach is utilized that matches assessment measures to the identified referral question and patient characteristics
- Tests selected from a wide variety of neuropsychology measures based on psychometric properties, demonstrated validity, and appropriateness of available normative data
- Interdisciplinary care is demonstrated by our monthly TBI meetings, where information about various assessments is discussed and treatments are considered based on this data
Ophthalmology and Oculoplastics
- Comprehensive Evaluation
- Visual fields tests
- Neuromuscular examination
- Humphrey visual field testing
- Orbital reconstruction to preserve eye movements and vision
- Ocular surface reconstruction including artificial cornea, grafting, burn reconstruction
- Complex eyelid reconstruction including tear drainage reconstruction
Orthopaedic Surgery
Upper and Lower Extremity
- Joint reconstruction including knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle reconstruction (AC, PCL, multi-ligament knee, rotator cuff and instability)
- Comprehensive arthroscopic procedures including knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle and hip arthroscopy
- Joint contracture release
- Specialty care in the setting of soft tissue loss or contracture
- Fracture care including malunion and nonunion
- Foot and ankle surgery
Spine Surgery
- Complex deformity surgery
- Cervical, thoracic and lumbar osteotomy for correction
- Cervical, thoracic and lumbar discectomies for nerve compression
- Fusion procedures for instability and degenerative conditions of the spine.
- Treatment of spinal infections
Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, ENT
Treatment of injuries and severe infections of the ears, nose, and throat
- Endoscopic sinus surgery
- Septoplasty
- Turbinate reduction
Treatment of traumatic injuries to the ear, temporal bone, larynx, skull base, facial nerve
- Ear exploration
- Tympanoplasty
- Mastoidectomy
- Cochlear implants
- Middle fossa surgery
- Facial nerve decompression
- Facial nerve rehabilitation (static/dynamic reanimation)
- Laryngeal reconstruction (thyroplasty, voice augmentation, larygenal transplantation)
Treatment of hearing and balance disorders, sinus/smell disorders, voice/speech/swallowing disorders
- Hearing tests
- Balance testing
- Balloon sinuplasty
- Video stroboscopy
- Transnasal esophagoscopy
- Swallow therapy
Reconstructive Plastic Surgery
Plastic Surgeons strive to re-establish form and function for defects arising from congenital anomalies, malignancies, or trauma. Doing so requires manipulation of skin, muscle and bones. Operation Mend patients have a broad spectrum of challenging defects affecting the face, torso, and extremities resulting from burn, blast, and ballistic injuries.
Specific procedures performed for Operation Mend patients include:
Local tissue rearrangements
- Scar revisions
- Contracture releases
- Z-plasties
Skin grafts
- full thickness skin grafts
- split-thickness skin grafts
Fat Transfer
Local flaps
- Fasciocutaneous flaps
- Muscle flaps
- Musculocutaneous flaps
Free tissue transfer
- Free osseous/osteocutaneous flaps
- Mandible/oral reconstruction
- Free muscle/myocutaneous flaps
- Facial reanimation for paralysis
- Free fasciocutaneous flaps
- Complex burn scar reconstruction (neck and extremity)
Craniofacial Procedures
- Facial fracture repair
- LeForte I, II, III, frontal sinus, nasal, zygomaxillary complex, mandible
- Orbital surgery
- Orthognathic surgery
Hand Surgery
- Care of the Amputated Digits & Limbs
- Reconstruction of nerve injuries
- Secondary burn care and reconstruction
- Nerve compression syndromes
- Fracture care including non-union or malunion
- Surgical care of ligament tears & joint dislocations
- Upper extremity soft tissue reconstruction
- Tendon Injuries
Urology Evaluation
- Comprehensive Evaluation
- Diagnostic Testing
