By Sun Zhaoshun, Liu Gang, and Zhu Dongdong
MALI, Dec. 8 -- The 9th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali received a notice from the Sector East Command of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) that a wounded Nigerian had been transferred to a Chinese secondary hospital in the Sector East Command by helicopter on December 5 local time. He was injured in a blast and needed emergency surgery.
At 14:40 that day, the evacuation group of the medical contingent escorted the wounded to the ward, who was later found with more than 40 foreign matters left in upper limb from the blast, some tiny, some embedded in muscles, and some stuck in articulatio.
In this case, the medical contingent decided to perform surgery as guided by intraoperative X-ray to remove all the matters after discussion, which was favorable for accurate location and has facilitated complete removal of the foreign matters.
The operation lasted for 4.5 hours, after which postoperative complications including suddenly increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, and decreased blood oxygen saturation, were seen, and blast injury of head, abdominal cavity and other important organs still couldn’t be excluded, either.
The doctors had to take a series of emergency measures such as opening the airway, mechanical ventilation, anti-inflammatory treatment, glandular secretion suppression, and control of volume capacity, which finally turned the wounded to be off the danger list.
As of now, the patient is out of the oral tracheal intubation and has clear consciousness, with good cardiopulmonary function and free movement.
