Klekovski: In the last four years we have had 28 cases, six of which involved high-degree burns

The Director of the FSSHM, Sasho Klekovski, emphasized at today's press conference that in the last four years we have had 28 cases, of which six with high-degree burns.

"We have about a hundred burns per year throughout the territory of Macedonia during a year, including burns from iron, hot water and all possible causes. Fire burns are the most serious category because in addition to skin damage, they also include respiratory damage. Of these hundreds of cases that we have per year, in the last four years we have had 28 cases, six of which are related to high-degree burns, so we are talking about second- and third-degree burns. We have had a total of 11 cases of burns complicated by skin grafting and 11 cases of minor burns with skin grafting. A total of 28 cases in four years," said Klekovski.

It informs that in 2024 we had five serious cases, two of which involved high-grade burns and three with skin graft transplantation with complications.

"In general, we have three hospitals in the country with experience with burns - Plastic Surgery, IPH Clinic for Surgical Diseases "St. Naum of Ohrid" - Skopje and Pediatric Surgery. But, the other thing is that these are clinics where we are still taking care of patients. In Plastic Surgery in 2022 there were two cases with severe burns, in 2023 seven cases with burns of 20 to 60 percent and in 2024 there were two cases - one with 20 and the other with 60 percent burns. In three years there have been a total of 11 cases. In IPH Clinic for Surgical Diseases "St. Naum of Ohrid" - Skopje - the closed burn center has two wards and two beds, a total of 4 beds. The subsequent stages are very specific and require specific experience. And for this reason we have decided to send patients abroad", he said.

The Director of the Fund announced that in a 10-year period, namely since 2017, a total of five cases have been sent abroad for treatment, which have been more difficult than our hospitals can handle. As he points out, one case was sent to Ghent in Belgium, one case to Istanbul and three cases to Pirogov in Sofia. “In Sofia we have two cases that have been treated for three years. We say this to understand the magnitude of the challenge we face. A patient in Thessaloniki has already had a skin transplant on his hands,” he said.

They inform that they are in contact with a foundation from the Netherlands that has a skin transplant bank to bring skin transplants to Macedonia to begin the reconstructive phase.

He announced that to date we have accommodated patients abroad in 12 countries, with the possibility of increasing to 14 today, and they have been accommodated in over 25 hospitals.

Klekovski informed that about 70 patients are still in care and will be treated in Macedonian hospitals. And as he emphasizes, they have been provided with adequate support with military doctors from the Czech Republic and Israel, who have adequate experience with burns. He announced that experts will arrive today from Britain to help plan the next phase of treatment for the patients, which will take a lot of time.

The Director of the "8 Shtatori" City General Hospital in Skopje, Sinisa Stojanovski, announced that this hospital operated a Burn Center, which was a combination of the plastic surgery department and the burn center with a capacity of about 20 beds, where half of the beds were planned for this type of burn, because, as he said, according to the Army hospital standards at the time, each of the military hospitals had to have its own center.