[The treatment of gunshot wounds of the hand]

During the war in Afghanistan gunshot hand injuries came to 12% of all wounded among Soviet servicemen. At the stages of specialized medical care the vast wounds, crushes or amputations of hand were 49%, hand injuries accompanied by traumata of other anatomical zones were 42%. The gravity, concomitant and multiorgan character of the injuries required that the conservative and active methods of treatment, as well as the expert appreciation of that category of wounded should be developed and improved. Field surgeons frequently performed primary operations accompanied with the elements of the specialized medical care. The experience shows that the local purulent complications during the primary surgical management of wounds performed without elements of specialized medical care were up to 29,5%, and in primary reconstructive operations--12.4%. Osteomyelitis was correspondingly recorded at 11.1% and 3.2% of cases. The efficiency of treatment was growing when microsurgical technique was used.