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Management strategy for penetrating oropharyngeal injury
1Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio 45401.
Pediatric Emergency Care
|December 1, 1989
Abstract:
Direct force applied to an object held in the mouth may cause either superficial or penetrating injury within the oropharynx. The natural course for a majority of these injuries is spontaneous healing. Penetrating trauma in the parapharyngeal space may cause life-threatening vascular injuries. Violation of the retropharyngeal space may lead to dissecting emphysema or mediastinitis. Knowledge of these infrequent but serious sequelae complicates emergency department management decisions.