Bréhima Traoré¹*, Djibril Traoré¹, Modibo Coulibaly², Soumaila Sagara¹, Oumar Guindo³, Abdoulaye Traoré⁴, Dramane Cissé¹, Pierre Coulibaly⁵, Kiffery Ibrahim Keita⁶, Fodé Mory Keita⁷, Dramane Samaké⁸, David T Théra¹, Aly Guindo¹, Aly Diallo⁹ and Adégué P Togo¹⁰

¹Department of General Surgery, Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti, Mali
²Medical Biology Laboratory Service, Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti, Mali
³Public Health Department, Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti, Mali
⁴Anesthesia/Resuscitation Service and Operating Room, Mali
⁵Gyneco-Obstetrics Department, Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti, Mali
⁶Referral Health Center of Sikasso, Mali
⁷Army Polyclinic of Kati, Mali
⁸Department of Medicine, Sominé DOLO Hospital in Mopti, Mali
⁹Department of General Surgery Sikasso Regional Hospital, Mali
¹⁰Department of General Surgery, CHU Gabriel Touré, Mali

*Corresponding Author: Bréhima Traoré, Department of General Surgery, Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti, Mali.

Received: March 07, 2022; Published: May 05, 2022

Abstract

Background: Mali is a west African country which has been going through armed conflict, insecurity and socio-political instability since 2012. This multidimensional crisis has led to an avalanche of violence with health repercussions, including ballistic trauma to limps. Sominé DOLO hospital is a second reference hospital located in the center of Mali where the war wounded are referred. The objective of this work was to describe the characteristics and the management of limb lesions du to ballistic trauma.

Patients and Methods: This was a prospective study from January 1 to December 31, 2019 in the surgery department. Our study focused on 170 limb-injured patients out of the 250 patients admitted to the emergency department for ballistic trauma. The study population consisted of patients of all ages presenting a ballistic injury to the limbs. Data was captured and analyzed on Epi-info 7.2.4.0. Proportions and means were calculated for qualitative and quantitative variables, respectively.

Results: Out of the 250 cases of ballistic lesions, 170 cases (68%) of limb injuries were found. The average age was 41 years. The sex-ratio was 9. Isolated wounds without fracture were the most frequently lesions in the limbs, 108 cases (63.5%) followed by fractures 62 cases (36.5%). Out of the 179 cases, surgery was performed twice in 83.6%. Patients with open fractures accounted for 54 (31.8%) and had been operated on more than 3 times. We resorted to orthopedic treatment, 30 cases (48.4%) received a plaster splint, 14 (22.6%) an external fixator and in 6 cases (9.7%) limb amputation was performed. The evolution was favorable in 90.8% of cases, however some cases of complications was noted such as surgical site infection (6.3%) and 5 cases of death (2.9%).

Conclusion: It appears that the majority of patients affected by ballistic trauma to the limbs were civilians with a predominance of the male sex. Lesions of the lower limbs were the most frequent. Surgical trimming and delayed closure well conducted reduced the risk of complications.

Keywords: Armed Conflict; Limbs Lesions; Surgical Management     

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Citation

Citation: Bréhima Traoré., et al. “Management of Limb Lesions of Ballistic Trauma at Sominé DOLO Hospital of Mopti”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 6.6 (2022): 49-54.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Bréhima Traoré., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.