Missions « opération sourire » en Mongolie

Abstract

We report our experience of plastic surgery of the face, limbs and burns in Mongolia. This country is huge, as three times as France and has got 2,4 millions of inhabitants of whom almost one million lives in the capital city Oulan-Baator, where sanitary and weather conditions are very tough for a large part of the population. The main observed and treated pathologies were sequellae of nerves and vessels lacerations, sequellae of complex hand injuries, sequellae of leg traumas, face, neck and limb burns, lips and palate clefts and pressure shores. The training of Mongol surgeons is far from good in the fields of skin coverage, digits reconstruction, treatment of nerve and vascular injuries and management of burns. Pedicled radial antebrachial, posterior interosseous, inguinal, sural, saphenous and lower limb muscular flaps were performed and taught. Microsurgery is still starting up. Thus we performed the first second toe transfer to reconstruct an amputated thumb. Some clinical cases are presented. This French–Mongolian cooperation should continue in order to match between both countries the knowledge and use of standard techniques in plastic surgery.