Retrospective Analysis of Surgical Outcomes in Patients Treated for Gunshot-Related Bone Defects at Mekelle University Hospital

April 13, 2025 updated by: Julian Joestl

his project looks back at past surgeries performed between 2019 and 2023 in a hospital in Mekelle, Ethiopia. During this time, a team of doctors from Austria and other countries visited the hospital to help patients who had been badly injured by gunshots, especially in the legs and arms. These injuries were very serious and often needed complex operations.

Why is this important? Mekelle is in a region that was affected by conflict and war. Hospitals there have very limited resources - not enough electricity, medical tools, or staff. The patients are often young people with injuries that would be easier to treat in better-equipped hospitals. This project wants to understand how the surgeries went under these difficult conditions and what could be done better in the future.

What will the doctors do in this study? They will look at hospital records from about 74 patients who had these surgeries. The doctors will not contact patients or do any new treatments. They are only using data that was already collected during treatment. The names and personal details of patients will not be used - everything will be anonymous.

The doctors will study:

The age and gender of patients What type of surgery was done How long surgeries lasted and whether electricity was available What happened after surgery - for example, whether the wound healed well or if there were problems What is the goal? The goal is to learn what worked well and what didn't - and to use this knowledge to plan future humanitarian missions. The results could also help improve care for people in similar situations in other parts of the world.

Are there any risks? No. This is a purely retrospective study. That means it only looks at past data. There will be no contact with patients, and no further action taken based on the study. All personal information will be protected according to strict privacy rules.

Who is behind this project? The project is led by Dr. Viktoria Koenig, a plastic surgeon from Austria who took part in the missions and has experience with this kind of surgery.

Why is this relevant? This study will help medical teams better prepare for working in difficult environments. It will also show how surgery can still help people even when resources are very limited - and highlight the importance of teamwork, planning, and flexible medical approaches.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

80

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Austria
      • Vienna, Austria, 1090
        • Medical University of Vienna

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All patients who underwent pedicled or free tissue transfer during the study period

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All patients who underwent pedicled or free tissue transfer during the study period

Exclusion Criteria:

  • All other patients

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
patients who underwent pedicled or free tissue transfer
Procedure: pedicled or free tissue transfer
pedicled or free tissue transfer

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Survival rate of the transferred tissue
Time Frame: Perioperative/Periprocedural
Survival rate of the transferred tissue
Perioperative/Periprocedural

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Julian Joestl

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 6, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 13, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 13, 2025

Last Verified

April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • GSR/0832/10

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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