[Plastic surgery and fighting: Our experience during Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020]

This work relates the experience of three French surgical missions in the care of the war wounded during the armed conflict in Nagorno Karabakh which took place from September 27 to November 10, 2020.

Three surgical missions were carried out in Armenia between October 2020 and January 2021. Surgeons intervened in different hospitals, at different times of the conflict and on various war wounds.

The presence of a plastic surgeon proved to be essential in the care of war wounded, especially in delayed emergency and secondary care. The ortho-plastic treatment offered during these missions has proven to be effective in the reconstruction of limbs. These missions made it possible to introduce the induced membrane technique of Masquelet AC in Armenia. During our visit to the Yerevan burn center, we mentioned the very probable use of white phosphorus as an etiology in several of the cases analyzed.

We relate the particular experience of civilian surgeons in the context of a modern armed conflict. The presence of a plastic surgeon proved to be indispensable in the care of war wounded and especially in their secondary reconstructions.