HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT SURGERY: Notes for Humanitarian Surgeons on the Acute Surgical Management of Penetrating Wounds Caused by Weapons of War(1 HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT SURGERY)

THIS A4 RING BINDER is the perfect tool for the humanitarian surgeon's side.  The Authors combine their vast surgical experience (spanning general, cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopaedic, maxillofacial, plastic surgery and neurosurgery) to create a practical and unique decision-making tool for acute casualties with war wounds - from gaining access to 'vital' structures and initial surgical actions, to wound closure, burns management and bone holding - with the primary aim of optimising the stabilisation of casualties, preventing infections and maximising future functionality. The book contains hundreds of authentic clinical photographs taken by the Authors in the field, plus numerous surgeon-drawn diagrams designed to clarify and align perfectly with the text.  THE FIVE MAIN SECTIONS in the book (see images) have colour-coded side tabs to aid navigability, with most topics covered on double-pages spreads that can be laid flat so that all relevant information is clearly visible at a glance. There is also a full Index, compiled by one of the Authors.  NOTE THAT the content aligns with the hands-on surgical training courses delivered by the Authors (e.g. by the David Nott Foundation), and the loose-leaf format allows easy updating of information in the future.  WRITTEN IN 'plain' English, this edition is designed for international use, but TRANSLATIONS into Arabic and Ukrainian are currently in development.  A supplement containing CASE STUDIES is also being developed to complement the main text. WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS EXPLICIT IMAGES OF CASUALTIES WITH WAR WOUNDS

Table of Contents:
OVERALL CONTENTS PAGE  Foreword by By Professor Dame Sue Black  Aims and structure of the book  The role of the surgeon Abbreviations and acronyms  SECTION I: Access to 'vital structures' Neck and torso Upper limbs Lower limbs The head  SECTION II: Initial actions Maintenance of the airway Control of haemorrhage Control of contamination 'from within' Control of contamination 'from without' Control of intracranial pressure SECTION  III: Decision-making Casualties who are exsanguinating Casualties who have exsanguinated Casualties with ongoing major haemorrhage Casualties who are haemodynamically stable SECTION  IV: Closing the wound Definitive closure of a temporarily closed laparotomy incision Basic soft tissue closure Holding the bone Tendon and nerve repair Soft-tissue closure with flaps Overview of limb wounds  Section V: Appendices Securing an intercostal drain Creating a feeding jejunostomy Management of burns Holding fractures of the limbs Management of postpartum haemorrhage Suggested reading Index

About the Author :
DAVID NOTT OBE, FRCS, MD, DSc, DMCC, RAAF Author of a best-selling memoir War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line (Picador, 2019) David is a Consultant General and Vascular Surgeon, and Professor of Humanitarian Surgery at Imperial College in London. For the past thirty years he has worked in conflict areas as a military and humanitarian surgeon with the Royal Air Force (RAF), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In 2015 he co-founded the David Nott Foundation, which promotes the teaching of surgical skills to local doctors working in areas affected by conflict and natural disasters. He also founded the Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST) course..   PETE MATHEW FRCS(ENG), FRCS(SN), DTM&H(TropMed), RAAF Pete was a Consultant Neurosurgeon in Adelaide in Australia and Dundee in Scotland before taking the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) in 1999. He trained as a trauma surgeon in South Africa and subsequently embarked on a career working in conflict areas - first as a military surgeon in the Royal Air Force (RAF), for ten years, then as a humanitarian surgeon with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). His humanitarian work continues, and between his missions he teaches anatomy at Dundee University. Before the Covid-19 pandemic he regularly worked for part of the year in Alice Springs Hospital in Australia.

Review :
By Professor Dame Sue Black DBE OBE BSc PhD DSc FRSE FBA FRAI FRSB FSA FRCP(Edin) Author of All That Remains and Written in Bone I have had the honour and tremendous pleasure of knowing and working with Pete Mathew for many years in the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee. In keeping with his explicit instructions, I will be brief here. This is not a verbose scholarly text, but one specifically designed to assist practically those multiskilled humanitarian surgeons who work in conflict zones - frequently with imperfect and restricted resources and no luxury of time. No two scenarios are the same, and the Authors - with a combined experience of over fifty years in the fields of humanitarian and military surgery - have constructed a text that is singularly fit for purpose. It specifically addresses the technical surgical aspects of the initial management of penetrating wounds caused by weapons of war, namely high-energy wounds. The structure of this book is critical to its clinical value, and it is designed to provide a different reading experience when compared to most of the available texts on the same subject. It is arranged in four sections:  The central section, Section III, applies the information contained in Section I and Section II to the acute clinical reality. This unique approach provides a decision-making framework for surgeons who are working in far from ideal clinical conditions, frequently in the immediate and chaotic atmosphere of an emergency facility, and operating within an active and hostile environment. Section IV gives an account of subsequent actions that may be taken to achieve the maximum likelihood of restoration of normal function. The content is sharply focused on giving precisely what information is required, without unnecessary 'filler content'. Wherever possible, topics are organised into two-page spreads, with notes on the left-hand page and diagrams and photographs on the right. All the illustrations and diagrams were specially devised by Pete Mathew to ensure absolute clarity and cohesion with the text. The logical layout of the book includes colour-coded sections and side-tabs, enabling quick and easy access to relevant information, and the 'unbound' page format adds greatly to its value as a practical tool at the surgeon's side. Overall, this no-nonsense text is designed to directly assist surgeons in emergency and operating rooms who are confronted with the rapid decision-making processes required to address the acute surgical management of penetrating wounds caused by weapons of war.