SURGICAL EXPERIENCE AT THE RAMA WAR HOSPITAL IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

We present our experience in the treatment of 1,300 wounded at the Ram a war hospital in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Rama surgical teams performe d mainly chest, abdominal and vascular operations, and other operation s if the patient's life was considered to be in danger. All severely w ounded patients were transported in a stable hemodynamic state to the Split University Hospital within 48 to 72 h, as the Rama hospital was primarily an evacuation facility. Owing to the well-organized first ai d provided and the rapid evacuation from the combat line, all patients were operated within 3 h after injury. This, together with the excell ent functioning of our blood bank were factors responsible for our goo d results. Among the 226 casualties operated under general anesthesia, mortality was 8.4% (19 cases). The most common causes of death were m ultiple injury and irreversible hemorrhagic shock.