Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017:41:57-60.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2017.10.008. Epub 2017 Oct 10.

Facial dog bite injuries in children: A case report

Alessandro Leite Cavalcanti  1 , Edgleys Porto  2 , Bruno Ferreira Dos Santos  2 , Christiane Leite Cavalcanti  3 , Alidianne Fábia Cabral Cavalcanti  4
Affiliations

Facial dog bite injuries in children: A case report

Alessandro Leite Cavalcanti et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2017.

Abstract

Introduction: Dog bites are common and can affect victims of different ages, from children to the elderly. Injuries are usually located in different body regions, including head and face. The treatment of choice for injuries is the suture of the lesion, accompanied by antibiotic therapy and tetanus and anti-rabies vaccination.

Presentation of case: An 11-year-old male black patient was admitted to the Surgery and Maxillo-Facial Traumatology Service, on an urgent basis, victim of domestic animal aggression (dog biting). The child had multiple and extensive lesions on the face, trauma with laceration with loss of substance, involving the left genic region, lower and upper lip, and lower gingival-labial sulcus.

Discussion: Smaller children are especially vulnerable to injuries in the craniofacial region due their low stature, propensity to crawl/play on the ground and exploratory behavior. The primary treatment of bites is by means of direct suture, grafting or local flaps, depending on the type of wound and the surgeon's decision, regardless of time elapsed from the attack.

Conclusion: This case shows a case of a child patient victim of animal bite, with lesions limited to the region of the face. The patient was followed up for a month and showed good wound healing without any complications.

Keywords: Bites and stings; Dogs; Maxillofacial injuries; Wounds and injuries.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The extent of the soft-tissue injuries sustained from the dog-bite attack.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Primary closure of the wounds at the cheek region and the lower labial region.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Thirty days follow up at lateral left and frontal views.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Veloso R.D., Aerts D.R.G.C., Fetzer L.O., Anjos C.B., Sangiovanni J.C. Epidemiologic profile of human anti-rabies treatment in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Ciênc Saúde Coletiva. 2011;16(12):4875–4884. - PubMed
    1. Dendle C., Looke D. Management of mammalian bites. Aust. Fam. Phys. 2009;38(11):868–874. (2009) - PubMed
    1. Bykowski M.R., Shakir S., Naran S., Smith D.M., Goldstein J.A., Grunwaldt L., Saladino R.A., Losee J.E. Pediatric dog bite prevention: are we barking up the wrong tree or just not barking loud enough? Pediatr. Emerg. Care. 2017 - PubMed
    1. Kaye A.E., Belz J.M., Kirschner R.E. Pediatric dog bite injuries: a 5-year review of the experience at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 2009;124(2):551–558. - PubMed
    1. Morgan M., Palmer J. Dog bites. BMJ. 2007;334(7590):413–417. - PMC - PubMed