[Spine surgery in a combat support hospital]

From July 2007 to October 2014, neurosurgical services have been continuously available in a multinational Role 3 combat support hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif (MeS), Afghanistan. In this paper, we analyze a 7-year operative and outpatient spinal surgery caseload experience.

The overall annual and monthly caseloads were determined. Additionally, the surgical cases were differentiated relating to the strength of the indication, the location of the surgical site, and the origin of the patients. The outpatient caseload and spectrum of the years 2012 and 2013 were also analyzed.

A total of 341 surgeries were performed and 188 of them were spinal surgeries (55.1 %). The vast majority of surgeries were performed for degenerative diseases (127/188; 67.6 %). The proportion of fractures and penetrating injuries (61/188; 32.4%) increased over the observation period. Eighty percent of the immediate and urgent surgeries (within 12 h; n = 70) were performed for these indications. 19.8 % of the surgeries were done as an emergency, whereas 17.3 % had delayed urgency, and 62.9 % were elective procedures. Of the 1026 outpatient consultations documented, 82 % of them were related to spinal diseases.

The overall caseload in addition to the distribution of location, strength of indication, and patient origin for MeS are significantly lower than that reported by other International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) nations in eastern and southern Afghanistan. In addition, the rate of elective surgeries and those carried out in civilian Afghan patients is highest in MeS. In comparison with MeS, none of the other ISAF military hospitals shows such a strong concentration of degenerative spinal conditions in their surgical spectrum. Nevertheless, the changing pattern of spine-related diagnoses and surgical therapies in the current conflict represents a challenge for future educational and material planning in comparable missions.