Facial dog bite injuries in children: A case report

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.

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.

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.

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.