Abstract:
In the current conditions of the full-scale war in Ukraine, mine-blast injuries have become one of the most common and severe forms of combat injuries among military personnel. Injuries are classified as isolated, multiple, and combined, depending on the location and nature of the injury. The severity of the injuries depends on the type of weapon, distance from the epicenter of the explosion, the presence of secondary injurious factors and the risk of developing infectious complications. No citizen of Ukraine, regardless of where they live, is immune to the risk of severe combat injuries.
In the first days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 846 cases of civilian deaths or injuries were recorded, of which 44.6% were fatal and 55.4% were injuries. In March 2022, these figures increased 8.6 times, with 58.7% of deaths and 41.2% of injuries. However, in 2023, this level gradually decreased, but the average monthly figure remained critically high: 163 killed and 547 wounded.
The criminal nature of russian troops was manifested not only in mass attacks on the Ukrainian population, but also in the use of phosphorus munitions in March 2022 (Kramatorsk, Kyiv region, and Mariupol). Particularly intense attacks were recorded on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and the use of such weapons violates the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a war crime.
The hostilities in Ukraine have shown that combined injuries were most often observed in 47.8% of victims, multiple injuries in 36.1%, and isolated injuries in 16.1% of cases. Such injuries are extremely complex and require long-term, multidisciplinary treatment and subsequent rehabilitation [68].
Scientists have found that among military personnel, combat trauma is the most common (50.8%) and is the main cause of amputation in 78.4% of cases caused by explosive injuries. In 47.0% of cases, the development of infectious wound complications was recorded, and in 61.0% of them they are polymicrobial, which significantly complicates the treatment of servicemen [33,53].
The aim of the study was to analyze the scientific sources of domestic and foreign researchers on the characteristics of combat injuries in military personnel, their structure, severity and frequency of infectious complications caused by various types of weapons during a full-scale war in Ukraine and in the world. To analyze the medical records of servicemen for the period of 2023-2024 (n=100), taking into account the following criteria: age, nature of injuries depending on the type of weapon, localization of injuries, complications and the duration of the rehabilitation period.
Research methods: We analyzed more than 104 articles from the scientometric databases Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct to conduct a retrospective analysis of scientific papers on the etiology, structure and severity of combat wounds, polymicrobial wounds and infectious complications, localization of penetrating neck wounds and the provision of medical care, social and psychological protection. After reviewing the articles and reading their full texts, 74 sources were selected. The depth of the search was for the period 2000-2025. Clinical cases of combat injuries in servicemen who were in the combat zone were reviewed. The following methods were used in the work: bibliosemantic method and content analysis, comparative, systematization of the studied material, statistical, etc.
