War-related trauma in children: experience from a multidisciplinary hospital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15574/PS.2026.1(90).613Keywords:
war in Ukraine, pediatric military trauma, children multidisciplinary hospital, negative pressure wound therapyAbstract
One of the features of the war in Ukraine is attacks on the civilian infrastructure with a large number of casualties, including children.
Aim - to assess the effectiveness of specialized medical care provided to wounded children in a multidisciplinary hospital within a combat zone and to determine the role of negative pressure wound therapy in the comprehensive treatment of war injuries.
Materials and methods. A retrospective review was conducted on twelve consecutive children with war-related trauma admitted between February 25 and April 1, 2022. Patient demographics, mechanism of injury, anatomic location, mode of transportation, triage category, vital signs, diagnostic and treatment procedures performed, clinical outcome, and length of hospital stay were analyzed.
Results. The patients’ age ranged from 3 month to 15 years. The mechanisms of injury were mine explosion injuries (50.0%) and bullet or shrapnel wounds from the shelling of the vehicle during the evacuation (50.0%). The majority of the patients sustained extremity injuries (66.7%), and had lesions in more than one anatomical region (50.0%). Four patients were triaged into the red zone, seven to the yellow zone, and one to the black zone. In the yellow zone, in addition to the physical examination, investigations included the Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) protocol (75.0%), computed tomography of the head and neck (25.0%), and clinical blood tests. The main feature of the fire wounds was a large area of soft tissue defect (58.3%), necessitating Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with various regimens. The treatment outcomes included discharge with recovery in 4 (33.3%) patients, evacuation to a safe place for further treatment in 6 (50.0%) patients, and 2 (16.7%) patients died.
Conclusions. The multidisciplinary children hospital in the combat zone can provide effective specialized care for injured children by adhering to the principles of triage and zoning.
Utilizing negative pressure wound therapy following radical debridement and copious irrigation provides optimal healing conditions and prevents infectious complications.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
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