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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2023; 56(04): 367-372
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1771516
Original Article

A Retrospective Observational Study of Facial Dog Bite Injuries and Its Management in a Tertiary Care Center

Vulchi Sreeramaraju 
1   Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Vaddi Suman Babu 
1   Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Mukesh Kumar Sharma
1   Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Manoj Kumar Jha
1   Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
,
Sameek Bhattacharya
1   Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Background: Facial dog bite injuries result in significant emotional, psychological, and physical trauma to the victims involved and should be considered a significant health issue. The purpose of this study is to share our experience in the management and to add to the existing medical literature regarding the epidemiological patterns of facial dog bite injuries.

Materials and Methods: This is a single-center retrospective observational study conducted at Dr. RML Hospital, New Delhi, from January 2021 to January 2022. A total of 105 patients were included. The wounds were managed according to the recommendations made by the national rabies control program and surgical intervention was performed in the form of primary suturing or flap cover.

Results: Children of age group 0 to 10 years are most commonly affected. Pet dogs are the cause in 61% of cases and 57.1% of bites were provoked. Midface is most commonly affected and modified Lackmann's class 3A and 3B are the most common wounds.

Conclusion: In view of raising incidence of dog bites with pet dogs, the general public needs to be educated regarding the practices to prevent these injuries. Postexposure prophylaxis should be given to all affected individuals irrespective of the vaccination status of the dog. Immediate surgical intervention gives better results.

Keywords

face - dog bites - rabies post exposure prophylaxis - primary suturing - flap cover


Publication History

Article published online:
04 August 2023

© 2023. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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