Soft Tissue Injuries of Face: Does Scar Really Mean a Lot?

Face is the identity for everyone, and has an absolute meaning in this era of esthetics. Although facial lacerations are seldom life-threatening, facial trauma can be deadly, because it can cause severe bleeding or interference with the airway. Injuries to the facial soft tissues are either simple or can be severe in combination with craniofacial fractures. These types of injuries are common at the emergency department and management is important at the earliest. Despite several techniques and materials available for scar reduction and prevention, working in underdeveloped setups may be challenging. At times the whole management protocol changes due to the infrastructural laggings. In underdeveloped countries such as Nepal, the treating surgeon has to deviate from the standard protocols to save lives, because patients are least bothered about scars and loss of function. Compromised hospital setups, lack of law and order in the country may also direct the treating doctor to treat the patients in compromised manner. This presentation aims to discuss few cases of facial lacerations severe in nature, originating from various etiologies (pressure cooker blast, road traffic accidents, physical assault) and their management modalities in the compromised setups and their treatment outcomes.