Dr at mass general says he’s never seen this volume of patients come in this fast before. Many injuries are shrapnel //t.co/K1YzmEJTBH — Kathryn Sotnik (@kathrynsotnik) 16 Apr 13

Peter J. Fagenholz, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital said that many of the 29 victims of Monday’s bombing sustained “complex lower extremity trauma.”

Doctors performed several amputations, he said at a news conference on Monday evening. Some victims suffered from shrapnel wounds and at least one person was being treated for a shattered eardrum.

He said eight of the victims at the hospital were in critical condition, and that a number of patients will require repeat operations in the days to come.

He said the volume of patients was unprecedented, and some of the injuries were particularly gruesome. But he had high regard for the patients.

“People, they were pretty brave,” he said.

— JENNIFER PRESTON