STRUCTURE OF TRAUMATIC INJURIES AND EXPERIENCE IN THE TREATMENT OF THE WOUNDED PATIENTS, AS A RESULT OF HOSTILITIES IN THE FIRST DAYS OF RUSSIA’S ATTACK ON UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. All the gunshot wounds are of high-energy. Gunshot and blast injuries, in most cases, are multiple, varying in depth and area of the wound surface. From the first day of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops (February 24, 2022), many victims of hostilities on the right bank of the Dnipro river in Kyiv were hospitalized in our hospital, which is one of the clinical bases of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the Bogomolets National Medical University. Dozens of wounded patients needed simultaneous interventions, and the presence of only 5 operating tables in the facility did not prevent the provision of appropriate qualified medical care to 6-8 critical patients at the same time.
 The goal of the work. To determine the structure and severity of traumatic injuries received as a result of hostilities.
 Materials and methods. In the study a prospective analysis of 89 patients who were injured in hostilities for the period from February 24 and March 3 2022, and were hospitalized in one of the clinical bases of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the Bogomolets National Medical University was conducted.
 Results and discussion. Lesions of one anatomical area occurred in 54 people (60.7%), lesions of two or more anatomical areas – in 35 people (39.3%). Most injured patients – 61 (68.5%), required from 2 to 6 surgeries, which was due to damage to various anatomical areas or the need for phased surgical interventions, including the use of damage-control surgery. Of the 66 patients with limb and pelvic bone injuries, mine explosions or gunshot fractures of the long bones of arms and legs, 41 were injured, and all were treated on an orthopedic basis. Damage-control surgery for injuries of abdominal organs was used in 5 wounded patients. In two patients, damage-control surgery was used for injuries of the pleural cavity. 9 patients (10.1%) of the 89 hospitalized with traumatic injuries received as a result of hostilities died.
 Conclusion. Extremities and pelvic bones injuries dominate in the structure of combat injuries – 66 (43.7%) patients; chest injuries were in 31 (20.5%) patients; head and neck injuries in 27 (17.9%) patients; abdominal solid organs and pelvic organs injuries in 19 (12.6%) patients; facial injuries in 8 (5.3%) patients. Damage of two or more anatomical areas occurred in 39.3% of patients affected by the hostilities. Most of the wounded patients – 68.5%, required from 2 to 6 surgeries.