Facial Laceration

Facial laceration is perhaps the most commonly sustained facial injury in each age group.
Toddlers and young children usually sustain facial lacerations due to domestic falls. School
Children and adolescents usually sustain this injury while playing outdoors. While
adults sustain facial lacerations due to vehicular accidents. Due to compromised stability and
mobility of their body, elderly people frequently fall and have facial lacerations. Whatever
may be the age of the patient and causative factor for facial lacerations, early repair (within
24 hours of injury) by a plastic surgeon is the best thing to do. A plastic surgeon has a vast
knowledge of anatomy, is trained to operate with patience, and possesses the ability to use
magnification, and has excellent surgical skills. Thus, all patients with facial lacerations should
consult a plastic surgeon at the earliest.

What are Facial Lacerations?

Laceration (anywhere in the body) is a soft tissue injury with a cut in the skin extending to
varying depths and caused by one or more of the multiple causes. Whenever any blunt or
sharp injury happens over the face, it leads to soft tissue injury of variable severity with the cut of
the skin and deeper tissues, called facial laceration.

Types of Facial Lacerations

As such, all injuries are different from each other. However, certain injury patterns are seen
repeatedly due to similarities in their causation. Based on their pattern of injury, facial
Lacerations can be broadly categorized as:

Simple Lacerations:
These are simple cuts, extending up to the layer below the skin and usually, few centimeters
in length. They can be caused by blunt injury over bony prominences or by sharp injury
anywhere on the face.

Avulsion lacerations:
This is a typical injury observed in vehicular accidents or rarely as a conveyor belt injury;
wherein the skin is forcefully moved over the deeper layers. This is an abnormal movement
with force that results in the rupture of skin (laceration) in a haphazard fashion.

Complex Lacerations:
High-velocity injuries or injuries directly over the bony prominence can lead to rupture of
skin and soft tissues (laceration) with injury to underlying bone (fracture). Thus, the
lacerations directly overlying the fractures are called complex lacerations.

Causes of Facial Lacerations

The causes of facial lacerations are different for all age groups of patients. To enumerate few
causes of facial lacerations: domestic falls, sports accidents, assault injuries, vehicular
accidents and factory accidents.

Symptoms of Facial Lacerations:

Face has abundant blood supply in our body. As a result, whenever there is any injury over
face, be it an abrasion, laceration or complex injury, bleeding is the first symptom.
Sometimes, bleeding from facial lacerations can be critical, especially when the laceration is
associated with multiple fractures. In such situation, control of bleeding becomes the top
priority. Apart from bleeding, pain is another common symptom. Depending upon the depth
of the injury, deeper structures like muscles, nerves, bones or joints can be injured and patient
might have symptoms pertaining to the injured structure.

Facial Laceration Treatment in Ahmedabad

Cutis Hospital provides the best treatment in Ahmedabad for facial lacerations. At Cutis
Hospital, qualified and experienced plastic surgeon is available 24 X 7 for the treatment of
facial lacerations.

Type of treatment depends on the severity of laceration

Our expert plastic surgeon at Cutis Hospital examines and assesses the wound before making
a final decision. After reviewing the history of the injury, a thorough examination of the patient and
his/her wound, and necessary investigations (when indicated), the method of repair is decided
by our expert plastic surgeon. Repair is done under local anesthesia if the laceration is simple
and the patient is an adolescent or adult. Lacerations in children and complex injuries in any age
group require general anesthesia for repair. Associate fractures might require fixation by
mini plates and screws.

After Care

• A small dressing is applied over the sutured area, which is to be kept dry for the next 3 –5 days.
• Some oral medicines are prescribed for next 3 days.
• If the surgery is done under local anesthesia, the patient can immediately have liquids orally and can leave the hospital within half an hour.
• If the surgery is done under general anesthesia, the patient can have oral liquids after 3 to 4 hours of operation and can leave the hospital after 6 – 8 hours of operation.
• In case of major and complex lacerations, the patient is advised to stay in the hospital as an indoor patient for 48 to 72 hours after the injury.
• In certain injuries (intra oral lacerations, fractures, complex lacerations, tongue injury), the patient is advised to take only liquids orally for initial 3 – 5 days.
• First follow up visit and dressing is scheduled after 72 hours of surgery.
• Stitches are usually removed after 4 to 5 days and then patient is given a follow up visit plan.
• To improve the result of facial laceration repair and lessen the visibility of scar, patient must regularly attend the follow-up OPD till at least 3 months after the surgery.
• Apart from his experience and surgical skill, a plastic surgeon can use many other modalities of treatment for the improvement of the scar. These treatments include silicone gel sheets, pressure therapy, cream programs, fractional carbon dioxide laser, intralesional injection of triamcinolone and 5 fluorouracil.
• Most people do believe, that stitches for facial lacerations, once taken, cannot be opened again for revision; however bad they are. This is a myth. plastic surgeons can readily open the improperly taken stitches and revise them nicely. However, this plastic surgery act of opening improperly placed stitches and taking them nicely again should be accomplished within 48 hours of the injury.

Why Cutis Hospital for Emergency Facial Injuries?

• At Cutis Hospital, services of an experienced and qualified plastic surgeon are available 24 X7.
• All the patient’s of facial injury are primarily by our plastic surgeon, so decision-making is immediate and effective.
• Our operation theater is fully equipped with state of the art facilities for repair of facial injuries.
• Many of our facial injury patients are 7 to 12 years of age. These children are very apprehensive and anxious. When we do repair under local anesthesia, we allow one of the parents to remain present in operation theater to make the child comfortable.
• Our approach of dealing with children is very gentle and friendly. We have devised our own technique of injecting local anesthesia drug under magnification, which literally causes no pain. Only prerequisite for this “painless injection technique” is, the child should not move
• during the injection.
• We have state of the art anesthesia machine and other equipment for patients who require surgery under general anesthesia.
• According to the patient’s injury, his surgical plan is made and discussed in detail with the patient and relatives.
• At Cutis Hospital, all patients of injury are given priority and their surgery is executed as early as possible.
• Our plastic surgeons do not leave the hospital after the surgery is over. In fact, for better and efficient post-operative care, our plastic surgeons do not visit other hospitals.
• Before the patient is discharged from the hospital, a comprehensive follow-up visit plan is explained to the patient and relatives.
• We do counsel the patient for regular follow-up visits and always help them improve the final appearance of the scar on each visit.
• Surgery done for facial injury at Cutis Hospital is reimbursed by mediclaim companies and our office staff will assist you in the proceedings.