RESUMO
The article presents the authors' experience of providing specialized surgical care for 197 children who had been affected by the earthquake in Pakistan (2005), Indonesia (2006 and 2009) and Haiti (2010). All victims had open injuries of soft tissues and bones. The article recites the strategy and principles of work organization of the mobile team of specialists from the Research Institute of Clinical and Research Institute of Urgent Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology in disaster areas. It includes the creation of a center for specialized surgical care for children, consultative work in all regional hospitals to where victims are initially evacuated, transportation and concentration of children with the most severe injuries in a specialized center. The basic principles of interaction with the central and local public health authorities and medical staff of hospitals were developed. The main characteristics of such injuries and their complications were defined as well. Mistakes made by the local and international surgical teams at the stages of primary and specialized surgical care were described. The effectiveness of the applied strategy of active surgical treatment of open injuries of soft tissue and bones complicated by surgical infection has been analyzed.