DONETSK, October 4. /TASS/. The reinforcement of federal medical centers with specialists and the improvement of multi-stage care have helped reduce the number of soldiers with severe lifetime disabilities after being wounded by tens of percentage points in contrast to statistics observed at the beginning of the special military operation, Vladimir Khominets, the chief traumatologist of the Russian Ministry of Defense and head of the Department and Clinic of Military Traumatology and Orthopedics at the Kirov Military Medical Academy, has told TASS.
"Initially, this conflict differed from the previous ones in the nature of the injuries, especially to bones and soft tissues, which are accompanied by extensive defects and a combined nature. High-energy injuries from cannon artillery and drones are, of course, severe. But from the beginning of the special military operation until now, the nature of the war has changed slightly: whereas at the beginning there were quite a few patients with serious [bone and soft tissue] damage, now there are slightly less of them, because the multi-stage medical care has changed, and these stages have been reinforced by specialists from central medical institutions. I think that the number of severe disabilities following injuries has been down by several dozen percentage points," said Khominets.
He added that for injuries to the musculoskeletal system, doctors stabilize bones with external devices developed at the N.N. Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital. Advanced stages of providing care to wounded soldiers have been reinforced by specialized specialists.
"These stages, especially the forward stage, the mobile medical teams, have been reinforced by military traumatologists and vascular surgeons," he stated.
"The good thing is that we come here and provide the kind of care that should be available practically at al central medical facilities," the medic concluded.
What specialists arrived in the DPR
Khominets arrived in the DPR as part of a group of specialists from the Russian Ministry of Defense, including the head of the Military Medical Academy, Yevgeny Kryukov; the chief ophthalmologist of the Ministry of Defense, Alexey Kulikov; the chief neurosurgeon, Dmitry Svistov; and the chief neurologist, Igor Litvinenko.
They visited the academy's special forces medical detachment, which has been operating in the DPR since June, and performed a number of surgeries. Kryukov presented medics with state awards.