• Guillaume Boddaert, Pierre Mordant, Françoise Le Pimpec-Barthes, Emmanuel Martinod, Sonia Aguir, Pascal Leprince, Mathieu Raux, Jean-Paul Couëtil, Antonio Fiore, Thomas Lescot, Brice Malgras, François Pons, and Yves Castier.
• Division of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Percy Military Teaching Hospital, Clamart, France.
• Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2017 Jun 1; 51 (6): 1195-1202.

ObjectivesThe Paris terrorist attacks on 13 November 2015 caused 482 casualties, including 130 deaths and 352 wounded. Facing these multisite terrorist attacks, Parisian public and military hospitals simultaneously managed numerous patients with penetrating thoracic injuries. The aim of this study was to analyse this cohort, the injury patterns, and assess the results of this mobilization.MethodsThe clinical records of all patients admitted to Parisian public and military hospitals with a penetrating thoracic injury related to the Paris 13 November terrorist attacks were reviewed.ResultsThe study group included 25 patients (7% of the casualties) with a mean age of 34 ± 8 years and a majority of gunshot wounds ( n =  20, 80%). Most patients presented with severe thoracic injury (Abbreviated Injury Score Thorax 3.3 ± 1.2), and also associated non-thoracic injuries in 21 cases (84%). The mean Injury Severity Score was 26.8 ± 9.4. Eight patients (32%) were managed with chest tube insertion and 17 (68%) required thoracic surgery. Lung resection, diaphragmatic repair, and lung suture were performed in 6 (36%), 6 (35%), and 5 cases (29%), respectively. Extra-thoracic surgical procedures were performed in 16 patients, mostly for injuries to the extremities. Postoperative mortality was 12% ( n =  3) and postoperative morbidity was 60% ( n =  15).ConclusionsThe coordination of Parisian military and civilian hospitals allowed the surgical management of 25 patients. The mortality is high but consistent with what has been reported in previous series. The current times expose us to the threat of new terrorist attacks and require that the medical community be prepared.© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

18 keywords...

hide…