War injuries of the extremities

Abstract

This paper describes experience acquired during the war against Croatia under improvised conditions at the Kutina War Hospital in the immediate vicinity of the first front lines. Over a period of almost 6 months a total of 701 soldiers and civilians, 546 of whom had been wounded by firearm missiles, were treated at the Kutina War Hospital, which has a capacity of 30-40 beds. As many as 87% of the injuries were due to mine, bomb or artillery shell shrapnel. The percentage of gunshot wounds was very low, mainly caused by sniper shots. Most patients (419, or 76.7%) were admitted with injuries to the extremities, including 893 severe soft tissue injuries and 182 fractures (32.3%). Soft tissue injuries were treated by routine procedures of war surgery, associated with ample use of Lavasept, an antiseptic solution (Fresenius, Stans, Switzerland), which has proved to be highly efficacious in preventing and decontaminating infection without disturbance of the wound healing process. Long bone fractures were fixed with the aid of external fixators of various designs, including the CMC external fixator of our own construction. External fixators have once again proved indispensable in the treatment of open fractures sustained in war settings. Amputations were performed in 10.4% of cases, including fingers and toes. Only 8 patients died during or immediately after surgery, corresponding to a very low mortality rate of 1.46%. The main prerequisites for successful treatment are a professional relationship to war surgery and its specific requirements, satisfactory technical equipment, and excellent organization of medical and non-medical services.