17. Dog Bites Injury of the Face: Management & Reconstructive Options
Firdous Khan, Babar Tanoli and Tehmas Ahmed Khan
ABSTRACT
Objective: To share our experience of managing facial dog bite injuries in terms of reconstruction presented to
our unit.
Study Design: Descriptive case series study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Department of Plastic Surgery & Burns, Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad from March 2022 to April 2023.
Methods: All those cases of dog bite injuries involving head & neck region of all age & sex groups with duration of less than 2 weeks and those received already tetanus immunization and rabies vaccines were included in the study.
Results: A total no. of 18 patients was enrolled in the study period. Mean age of the patients were 4.5 years. There were 11 male patients and 7 females. Children age less than 10 years of age was victim of dog bite injuries in 9 cases. Most common areas of face involved were lips (09) cases, nose (04) cases, cheeks (03) cases and forehead (02) cases. Main reconstructive options were wound primary closure (08 cases), local advancement and rotation flaps (06 cases) and full thickness skin graft (03 cases).
Conclusion: Our study concludes that children are the major victims of dog bite injuries compared to adults. Most of the dogs were known to the patients and lips was the commonest area of face involved followed by nose and cheeks. Majority of these wounds were reconstructed mainly by primary closure and local advancement flaps.
Key Words: Face, dog bite, animal bite, injuries.