Anesthetic activities provided by the French forward surgical team in Abidjan, Ivory Coast: Four-year retrospective analysis

The aims of this study were to review and quantify the types of anesthetic procedures performed by anesthesiologists assigned to the forward surgical team (FST) deployed in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The study includes all patients undergoing surgery by the FST from July 2012 through July 2016. The activity was retrospectively analyzed and divided according to demographics, surgical specialties, emergency versus elective surgery, types of anesthetic and post-operative analgesic procedures, and transfusion aspects. Over this period, surgeons performed 1520 operations, 98 % as medical support to the population (MSP). Elective surgery accounted for 96 % of this activity, and emergencies for only 4 %. The main surgical activities were visceral (74 %) and orthopedic (26 %). Anesthetic procedures were general anesthesia for 62 % and locoregional anesthesia in 38 %. Our study showed that the FST contributed to MSP. Anesthetic procedures for MSP required limited resources, standardization of the procedures, and specific skills beyond the original specialties of military anesthesiologists to fulfill the needs of the local population.