8 year old boy was bitten by grandmother's dog, almost had his ear lobe severed

While visiting his grandmother's house, an 8-year-old boy in Hanoi was bitten by a dog and was hospitalized with multiple injuries to his head, right arm, etc. In particular, his earlobe was severely damaged, his soft tissue was crushed, and all of his cartilage was severed.

Sang nhà bà chơi, bé trai suýt mất vành tai vì bị chó cắn - Ảnh 1. — Child patient bitten by dog, almost severed ear - Photo: BVCC

Hanoi Children's Hospital has just admitted an 8-year-old boy from Chuong My, Hanoi, who was bitten by a dog and had multiple soft tissue injuries on his right ear, scalp, right forearm, and skin abrasions in many places due to dog bites.

Through examination, the boy had many deep bites and wounds on his head and right arm, the longest laceration was about 5cm.

According to the family, the child went to his grandmother's house and was bitten by the family dog. Immediately after the accident, the child was taken to Chuong My General Hospital, where first aid was given, the wound was bandaged and the bleeding was temporarily stopped. The family contacted and coordinated with the hospital and was immediately transferred to Hanoi Children's Hospital.

According to Dr. Hung Anh, Department of General Surgery, Hanoi Children's Hospital, upon receiving the patient, doctors quickly tested and performed emergency surgery on the child.

"The surgery has two main goals: maximum cleaning, removing damaged tissue to avoid infection; maximum preservation of the ear rim, ensuring the shape of the ear and the structure of the ear canal.

During the surgery, the doctor found that the auricle was severely damaged, with a lot of soft tissue crushed, the entire cartilage and blood vessel structure from the ear canal to below the auricle were completely severed, the skin bridge at the earlobe did not have enough blood drainage, and the peripheral skin flap was purple and bleeding profusely.

The child underwent surgery to remove the crushed part, suture the cartilage of the external auditory canal and the auricular cartilage, and reconnect the ear vein using microsurgery techniques. After surgery, the ear shape met the requirements, the auricle was warm pink, normal color, not purple. Other wound sites were irrigated many times, cleaned and sutured with excess skin," Dr. Hung Anh informed.

After surgery, the boy was completely conscious and the surgical wound was stable. In addition, the child was given antibiotics, had bandages changed and the surgical wound cared for, and was vaccinated against rabies and tetanus.

According to Dr. Hung Anh, animal bite accidents are common, especially with children because they are curious and do not yet recognize the dangerous signs of animals.

Can cause serious consequences such as damage to blood vessels, nerves, bite wound infection and especially serious such as rabies or amputation of body parts such as: genitals, ears, nose, limbs... In addition, it also greatly affects the child's psychology, so family members need to have plans to prevent accidents for young children.