[Experience with the treatment of war injuries in Afghanistan]

The International Committee of the Red Cross surgical hospital for Afghan war-wounded is located across the border in Pakistan. The author describes experiences from his work in that hospital from July 1981 to November 1985. During the period, 6,700 patients were admitted to the hospital and 13,184 major and minor surgical operations were performed. In the case of persons wounded in guerilla warfare, when treatment is delayed due to poor transportation facilities, the accepted treatment for conventional battlefield injuries should not be applied without modification. The author discusses the principles for treating injuries to different organs.