Abstract
British military forces are heavily committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation HERRICK, currently supported by a Role 2(Enhanced) medical facility at Camp Bastion, is predicted to continue for the next 10 years.
There has been no large published series on surgical workload on Operation HERRICK. The aim of this study is to determine and plan future medical needs.
A retrospective analysis of operating theatre records between 10th October 2006 and 31st Oct 2007 was performed. Data was collated on a monthly basis, to assess seasonal variation, and included patient demographics, operation type and time of operation.
During the study period 968 cases required 1262 procedures. Thirty-four per cent were ISAF, 27% were Afghan soldiers, police or enemy forces and 39% were civilians, of which, 43% were children. Ninety-one per cent were secondary to battle injury and 50% were emergencies. The breakdown of procedures, by specialty, was 67% (841) were orthopaedic, 16% (199) general surgery, 8% (96) head and neck, 5% (55) burns surgery and a further 4% (50) were non-battle, non-emergency procedures. During the second half of the study period 655 cases were operated on compared to 313 in the preceding half (p< 0.05). Twenty-eight per cent of cases were performed between 6pm and 8am.
Surgical workload remains consistently high throughout the study period, however there was significant seasonal variation with casualty rates being greater in the summer months, this may have bearing on the decision to deploy additional surgeons and trainees in the future.
Correspondence should be addressed to Major M Butler RAMC, 44 Theynes Croft, Long Ashton, Bristol, BS41 9NA, England.
