Head and neck interventions for war injuries in the Syrian civil war

The objective of this study was to analyse the otorhinolaryngology interventions performed in patients admitted to our emergency department due to war injuries and to discuss them in the light of the literature. In this study, the files of patients admitted to our emergency department between 2011 and 2023 due to injuries sustained during the Syrian civil war were analysed retrospectively. A comprehensive analysis was conducted on the demographic information, injury sites, surgical details, injury types and surgical complications of the patients included in the study. Of the patients included in the study, 123 were male and 3 were female. The mandible was the most commonly affected region in patients with head injuries, with a prevalence of 57.9. In the case of neck injuries, soft tissue and musculoskeletal injuries were the most prevalent, accounting for 14.3 % of cases. No mortalities were observed in any patients.

The patients in this study were predominantly exposed to blast injuries, with the mandible being the most commonly injured site. Turkiye has not only provided a great service for humanity with limited facilities in border health centres, but also made a unique contribution to the literature in this field where it is lacking.