Paediatric trauma in northern Iraq: the Kurdish refugee crisis

In May 1991 a team of five doctors and two nurses from Edinburgh hospitals were flown to Northern Iraq to assist in the Kurdish refugee relief effort. The two surgical members of the team helped to re-establish surgical services in a small hospital in the Iraqi town of Zakho. During an 8-day stay in the hospital, frequently in extremely difficult circumstances, the surgical team undertook 19 major and 15 minor surgical procedures in 25 patients; 11 major and eight minor procedures were undertaken in 15 children under the age of 16 years. The largest group of children treated had suffered bomb-blast injuries from unexploded ordinance; injuries sustained were primarily to the hands, face and upper trunk. Road traffic accidents and burns were also common. Two children requiring postoperative intensive care were evacuated by military helicopter at night to hospital facilities in Turkey.