title: Injuries due to Landmine Blast Referred to Shahid Motahhary Hospital, Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The health system faced a new problem of an increasing number of civilian victims of landmine explosions at the end of Iran-Iraq war.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a descriptive survey from 1998 to 2004, data was collected retrospectively from medical records of Shahid Motahhary Hospital, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study covered 156 victims. 80% of the casualties were civilians of which 95% were male. Injuries led to amputation in 73.3% of the victims. The mortality rate was 3.8%. Blood transfusions was given to 93 (62%) victims. There were 52.6% pattern I, 14.6% pattern II and 32.6% pattern III injuries according to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) classification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mine awareness programs should be conducted amongst civilians who live in high-risk areas. Improved health infrastructure with trained personals for emergency care and early transfer of the casualties would reduce morbidity and mortality. Studies are required to understand the social and public health consequences of this problem.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor (Hand-Orthopaedic Surgeon), Department of Orthopaedics, Shahid Motahary Hospital, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor (Orthopaedic Surgeon), Department of Orthopaedics, Shahid Motahary Hospital, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.affiliation: RN, BSN, TNC University of California, Davis Medical Centre.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mirzatoloei
keywords: Civilian victims; Iran; Landmine blast injuries; War wounds