Facial soft tissue injuries

Blunt trauma

 * hitting an obstacle with your face
 * hematoma + edema → cold compression

Abrasions

 * superficial skin injuries roughly the thickness of the corium with capillary bleeding
 * often contaminated with a lot of foreign bodies (sand, etc.) → removal
 * greasy tulle

Skin penetrating wounds

 * cutting, slashing and stabbing; smooth edges, slightly dirty → we exclude damage to deeper structures + débridement
 * lacerated, bruised, shot, bite; bruised tissue, possibility of developing infection → radical débridement, excision of wound edges (traumatic wound → surgical wound with better conditions for healing + less scarring)

Complex wounds

 * deeper structures are damaged (muscles, ligaments, nerves, salivary and lacrimal glands)
 * goal of functional reconstruction
 * e.g. suture of ducts on a silicone catheter, microsuture of n. VII, nerve branches, suture of a lacerated lip with the 1st suture on the border of the lip in red

Complicated wounds

 * soft tissue wounds associated with fractures of the facial skeleton
 * wounds penetrating the oral cavity, nasal cavity or VDN
 * loss injuries (traffic accidents, gunshot wounds, bites)

Related Articles

 * Fractures of the facial skeleton
 * Facial reconstruction
 * Nasal reconstruction