@article{ref1,
title="Reconstruction of firearm and blast injuries in Syrian war refugees",
journal="International journal of clinical practice",
year="2021",
author="Kokacya, Omer and Gencel, Eyuphan and Eser, Cengiz and Tabakan, Ibrahim",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: War injuries differ from other injuries owing to the large tissue defects they cause and their high risk of contamination. As fragments scattered by  high-energy firearms and explosives cause serious composite tissue damage, repair of  such injuries is difficult and requires a long treatment period. We discuss the  treatment methods used for injured Syrian War refugees admitted to our clinic and  present the most effective repair methods for war-related tissue defects for each  region of the body. <br><br>METHODS: A total of 61 patients treated between June 2012 and  April 2015 were retrospectively evaluated in terms of age, sex, duration of  hospitalization, injury site, and repair method employed. The patients were grouped  by region injured (head/neck, extremities, and trunk). <br><br>RESULTS: The female-to-male  ratio of the patients was 16/45, and their mean age was 25.2 (range, 3-51) years. Twenty-two patients were under the age of 18. The mean duration of hospitalization  was 28.5 days. A total of 130 operations were performed on the patients, including  debridement and revisions. Repairs were conducted with free flaps in 17 patients (6  on the head/neck region, 11 on extremities) and with pedicle flaps in 28 patients  (11 on the head/neck region, 12 on extremities, 5 on the trunk). Two patients  experienced flap loss without other complications, and other patients experienced  complications including bleeding, infection, flap detachment, hematoma, and seroma. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: War injuries cause tissue damage of a composite and extensive nature. Most affect the extremities, followed by the head/neck and trunk regions. They are  primarily sustained by the young population, not usually easy to treat, and require  long hospitalization periods. A variety of methods may be preferred to treat these  injuries.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1368-5031",
doi="10.1111/ijcp.13995",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13995"
}