1. Wartime paediatric extremity injuries: experience from the Kabul International Airport Combat support hospital
- Author
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Pierre Mary, Frédéric Rongieras, Gilbert Versier, Laurent Mathieu, P. Chaudier, Antoine Bertani, Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Desgenettes Military Hospital, 108, boulevard Pinel, 69275 Lyon cedex 03, France, parent, Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs (LBMC UMR T9406), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Desgenettes Military Teaching Hospital, Lyon, CHU Trousseau [APHP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU), and Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Bégin Military Teaching Hospital, Saint-Mandé, France
- Subjects
Combat support ,Poison control ,Hospitals, Military ,Occupational safety and health ,03 medical and health sciences ,UPPER EXTREMITY ,BIOMECANIQUE ,0302 clinical medicine ,Blunt ,WARFARE ,CHILD ,RETROSPECTIVE STUDIES ,Injury prevention ,medicine ,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,MULTIPLE TRAUMA ,Afghan Campaign 2001 ,MALE ,business.industry ,Mortality rate ,COHORT STUDIES ,[SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,HUMANS ,medicine.disease ,Polytrauma ,3. Good health ,FEMALE ,LOWER EXTREMITY ,ENFANT ,HOSPITALS ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Injury Severity Score ,MILITARY ,Medical emergency ,business ,AFGHANISTAN - Abstract
Since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, management of Afghan military or civilian casualties including children is a priority of the battlefield medical support. The aim of this study is to describe the features of paediatric wartime extremities injuries and to analyse their management in the Kabul International Airport Combat Support Hospital. A retrospective review was carried out using the French surgical database OPEX (Service de Sante des Armees) from June 2009 to January 2013. Paediatric patients were defined as those younger than 16 years old. Of the 220 injured children operated on, 155 (70%) sustained an extremity injury and were included. The mean age of the children was 9.1±3.8 years. Among these children, 77 sustained combat-related injuries (CRIs) and 78 sustained noncombat-related injuries (NCRIs), with a total of 212 extremities injuries analysed. All CRIs were open injuries, whereas NCRIs were dominated by blunt injuries. Multiple extremities injuries and associated injuries were significantly more frequent in children with CRIs, whose median Injury Severity Score was higher than those with NCRIs. Debridement and irrigation was significantly predominant in the CRIs group, as well as internal fracture fixation in the NCRIs group. There were four deaths, yielding a global mortality rate of 2.6%. This study is the first to analyse specifically paediatric extremities trauma and their management at level 3 of battlefield medical facilities in recent conflicts. Except for severe burns and polytrauma, treatment of paediatric extremities injuries can be readily performed in Combat Support Hospitals by orthopaedic surgeons trained in paediatric trauma. Language: en
- Published
- 2015
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