Humanitarian surgical care provided by a French forward surgical team: Ten years of providing medical support to the population of the ivory coast

Abstract

Introduction: The aims of this study were as follows: first to quantify and review the types of surgical procedures performed by military surgeons assigned to a Forward Surgical Team (FST) providing medical support to the population (MSP) in the Ivory Coast (IC), and second to analyze how this MSP was achieved. Methods: Between 2002 and 2012, all of the local nationals operated on by the different FSTs deployed in the IC were included in the study. The surgical activity was analyzed and divided into surgical specialties, war wounds, nonwar emergency trauma, nontrauma emergencies, and elective surgery. Demographics, circumstances of health care management, wounded organs, and types of surgical procedures were described. Results: Over this period, surgeons operated on 2,315 patients and performed 2,556 procedures. Elective surgery accounted for 78.7% of the surgical activity, nontrauma emergencies accounted for 12.7%, nonwar emergency trauma accounted for 8%, and war wounds accounted for 0.6%. The main surgical activities were visceral (43.8%) and orthopedic (including soft tissues) surgeries (38.5%). Conclusion: The FSTs contributed widely to MSP in the IC. This MSP required limited resources, standardization of the procedures and specific skills beyond the original surgical specialties of military surgeons to fulfill the needs of the local population.