Better be prepared: the spectrum of neuropsychiatric impairment among Libyan war victims transferred to Germany for trauma rehabilitation

BackgroundThe current Libyan civil war has originated many casualties, imposing medical challenges. War injuries are complex, requiring specialized knowledge and interdisciplinary assessment for adequate patient and intercultural management.MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed records of 78 Liby...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurological research and practice 2021-07, Vol.3 (1), p.36-36, Article 36
Main Authors: Dootz, Felix, von Stackelberg, Otto-Magnus, Abaya, Joan, Jacobi, Christian, Mohs, Christoph, Craemer, Eva Maria, Rangger, Christoph, Meyding-Lamadé, Uta, Lamadé, Eva Kathrin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Demography
Explosions
Fractures
Hygiene
Injuries
Injury patterns
Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary aspects
Neurology
Patients
Psychiatry
Rehabilitation
Trauma
Trauma surgery
Vertigo
War
War injuries
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Summary:BackgroundThe current Libyan civil war has originated many casualties, imposing medical challenges. War injuries are complex, requiring specialized knowledge and interdisciplinary assessment for adequate patient and intercultural management.MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed records of 78 Libyan patients admitted from July 2016 to November 2017 to neurological and trauma surgical departments of Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt, Germany. Issues of system preparation of the hospital, demographics, injury patterns and therapies were analyzed. The chi-squared test was used to analyze differences in injury patterns in explosion and gunshot injuries.ResultsSeventy-seven of seventy-eight patients were male (mean age 30.6 years). The patients received primary and secondary treatment in Tunisia (n = 39), Libya (n = 36) and Turkey (n = 23). Forty-eight patients had gunshot injuries, 37 explosion injuries, 11 both. Preparation for management of injuries included hygienic and isolation protocols, organization of interpreters and intercultural training. Patients presented with a broad variety of neurological, psychiatric and trauma surgical injuries. Fifty-six patients had sensory, 47 motor deficits. Nine reported headache, 5 vertigo, 13 visual impairment, 28 psychiatric symptoms. Eighteen patients had central nervous damage, 50 peripheral nervous damage. Central nervous damage was significantly more common in gunshot than explosion injuries (p = 0.015). Peripheral nervous damage was more common in explosion than gunshot injuries (p
ISSN:2524-3489
2524-3489
DOI:10.1186/s42466-021-00134-z