Pediatric Facial Fractures From Dog Bites

Abstract

Although uncommon, facial fractures associated with dog bites are a significant source of morbidity, often requiring complex surgical repair. Severe injuries to the face from dog bites should be evaluated for possible fractures in addition to soft tissue injuries.

Dog bites of the head and neck: an evaluation of a common pediatric trauma and associated treatment

“…These results agree with previous studies evaluating canine bites at tertiary medical centers. [7, 13, 21, 22]…”

“…The findings of this study are consistent with and extend from previous publications. [5, 7, 11-13, 16, 21, 22, 29] Dog bites from pit bull terriers, compared to bites from all other dogs are more common, more severe, and not related to the dog being provoked. Taken as a whole all other breeds are more likely to bite their owners or other known individuals, either provoked or unprovoked.…”

“…[23] Lackmann's scale has previously been used by a number of authors to control for injury when comparing various treatment and surgical interventions for injuries of the head and neck. [5, 7, 13, 26] We also incorporated the efforts of Dire et al and Cummings in order to determine anatomic locations at highest risk for complication following dog bite. [27, 28]…”

“…[8-11] The force generated from some dog bites can fracture bone, dependent on the patient, dog breed and site of bite. [12, 13]…”

Animal-inflicted ocular and adnexal injuries in children: A systematic review

“…155 In the second, there were 5 orbital fractures out of the 17 facial fractures in a cohort ranging from 6 months to 10 years. 162 In both of these series, all patients who sustained an orbital fracture had an associated lid injury. 155,162 Aside from these case series, mention was also made in other studies of doginflicted orbital fractures with 2 documented in the study by Brogan and colleagues, 21 one in the study by Horswell and Chahine, 69 and one in the study by Wladis and Dewan.…”