Mammalian bite wounds represent a common type of injury usually seen in the emergency room, constituting approximately 1% of visits to emergency departments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the management of the bites injuries to the face presenting to Department of Plastic Surgery, Regional Hospital of North Wing, Brasília, Brazil, from January to December, 1999. There were 42 patients, with a mean age of 17 years, ranging between 1 and 50 years: 29 (69,0%) patients were males. Dog bites were responsible for 71,4% of all bite wounds, following by human bites (26,2%). The mean duration of injury before presentation was 16 hours. The ear was the most common site of injury (40,0%), followed by the lips. Surgical treatment consisted of primary closure, either by direct suturing (66,7%), local flap (28,6%) or skin grafting (4,7%). There was no infection in this study. The results indicate that immediate closure of bite injuries is safe, even with older injuries.
Dog bite; Human bite; Face
