[Humanitarian surgical missions].

Humanitarian surgical missions are one of the most promoted aspects of french humanitarian action in the third world through the media. This action, previously limited, is now well-organised and its actors have become real professionals. The working conditions of this kind of surgery, are characterised by its lack of means and insecurity.

Open wound drainage versus wound excision in treating the modern assault rifle wound.

Military dogma of the past 20 years preaches that excision of all injured tissue around the path of a penetrating projectile is essential in wound treatment. To find out whether excising injured muscle surrounding a bullet path benefits healing over and above the benefit provided by a simple release of tension by incision, two groups of 90 kg swine were shot in the hind leg with a replica of the AK-74 assault rifle projectile. One group was treated by excision of injured tissue around the projectile path; in the other group no tissue was excised.