Management of war-related vascular wounds in French role 3 hospital during the Afghan campaign.

Objectives: To describe the management of war-related vascular injuries in the Kabul French military hospital.

Methods: From January 2009 to April 2013, in the Kabul French military hospital, we prospectively included all patients presenting with war-related vascular injuries. We collected the following data: site, type, and mechanism of vascular injury, associated trauma, type of vascular repair, amputation rate and complications.

Videothoracoscopic resection of neurogenic tumors of the superior sulcus using the harmonic scalpel.

Resection of neurogenic tumors located in the paravertebral sulcus carries a risk of injury to the adjacent nervous structures and also to critical intercostal arteries supplying the anterior spinal artery. To avoid such complications, we have used the Harmonic Scalpel (Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, OH) for the dissection of neurogenic tumors in 2 consecutive patients operated on by videothoracoscopy. The Harmonic Scalpel functions with ultrasonic energy, producing less heat than a regular electrocautery and allows a safer dissection of tumors located in the posterior mediastinum, particularly those located in the superior paravertebral sulcus.