Benefit of the Damage Control to Manage Cervical Injuries in Military Surgery

OTTOMANI S | PEYCRU T | BODIN R | BIANCE N | JARRY J

Seance of wednesday 26 june 2013 (SEANCE AU VAL DE GRACE)

Abstract

Through two case reports, we illustrate the principle of damage control for cervical wounds in military surgery. The first observation is that of an African patient who underwent a thyroidectomy in a field hospital in Chad and the second observation is that of a French soldier who presented a gunshot wound in Afghanistan and was operated at the KAIA hospital. This innovative management allowed in both cases to control the hemorrhagic syndrome by cervical packing and to transfer the patient in ICU for a delayed final management according to the principles of damage control. The principle of damage control is the « gold standard » of the current management of trauma in civilian and military trauma surgery. Initially described in visceral surgery, it is now applied in orthopedic, vascular, thoracic, or maxilo-facial surgery. In this article, the authors report their experience of damage control in military surgery, applied to cervical hemorragic wounds.