Field-improvised war surgery in Kosovo: use of kitchen utensils as surgical instruments

After years of conflict between Serbia and neighboring Kosovo, a full-blown war started in March 1999 when the Serbian and Yugoslav armies began a statewide military crackdown against ethnic Albanians and the Kosovo Liberation Army. Most ethnic Albanians were displaced to Macedonia or Albania. Some, however, found refuge in the Molopolce mountain region of Kosovo among military personnel, thus necessitating the creation of a field medical facility. Patient treatment at the field-improvised Nerodime Military Hospital, and the management of work took place under very difficult conditions including a chronic lack of appropriate medical equipment. Improvised lifesaving surgeries were performed with kitchen utensils serving as retractors at the field hospital. This article compares the treatment of patients between the two hospitals, and is the first article to date describing the war experience in general at the field hospitals in Kosovo.