title: [Facial dog bite injuries in children: retrospective study of 77 cases].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The face is the area most vulnerable for dog bites in children. Surgical management is an emergency to prevent infection, functional and aesthetic outcomes. The aim of this study was to define a new gravity scale, and to determine a prevention policy.
  
  
  METHODS
  In our maxillofacial and plastic surgery department, we conducted a retrospective study from 2002 to 2010, including 77 children under 16 years old, victims of facial dog bite. We analyzed epidemiological, clinical data, surgical outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 5.36 years. Dogs were principally represented by class I and II dogs; 27,7% of them had ever bitten before. In almost all the cases, the dogs belong to the family or closers. Twenty-one percent of children belong to an unfavourable social environment; 71.43% of dog bites interested the central area of the face. The bites were deep in 77% of cases with amputation or extensive loss of substance in 31% of cases. The healing time was 10.54 months. Nearly a third of patients required several surgeries; 41.56% of patients had aesthetic and functional sequelae; 35.1% of children had psychological problems afterward.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Facial children dog bites require a multidisciplinary approach, and a long-term follow-up. We propose a new classification of dog bite severity, more appropriate to the face.
authors.affiliation: Service de chirurgie maxillofaciale et plastique, hôpital d'enfants Armand-Trousseau, UFR Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie-Paris-6, AP-HP, 26 avenue du Docteur-Arnold-Netter, Paris, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hersant
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cassier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Constantinescu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gavelle
authors.forename: M-P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Vazquez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kadlub
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004285:Dogs; D004954:Esthetics; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology