The baby almost lost his ear after being bitten by his family's dog.

NDO - Hanoi Children's Hospital admitted an eight-year-old boy who was bitten by a dog and had to be hospitalized with multiple soft tissue injuries on his right ear, scalp, and skin abrasions in many places. Doctors performed microsurgery to suture and preserve the boy's ear.

According to the family, the child went to play at his grandmother's house and was bitten by the family dog. Immediately after the accident, the child was taken to Chuong My Hospital for first aid, bandaged and temporarily stopped the bleeding, then transferred to Hanoi Children's Hospital.

Upon admission, through examination, doctors determined that the injury was almost completely severed from the right earlobe, severed from the cartilage of the external auditory canal and the cartilage of the ear, with a 2.5cm skin bridge at the earlobe, many deep tooth bites and many deep lacerations to the subcutaneous layer on the head and right arm, the longest laceration was about 5cm.

Dr. Hung Anh (General Surgery Department, Hanoi Children's Hospital) said that upon receiving the case, the medical team quickly completed the tests and performed emergency surgery on the child. The surgery had two main goals: maximum cleaning, removing damaged tissue to avoid infection; maximum preservation of the auricle, 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 damaged, the skin bridge at the earlobe did not have enough blood drainage, the peripheral skin flap was purple, and there was a lot of bleeding. 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 microsurgical techniques.

After surgery, the ear shape met the requirements, the ear rim was warm pink, normal color, not purple. Other wound sites were irrigated many times, cut and cleaned, and excess skin was sutured.

Baby's ear after surgery

During the postoperative period, the child was fully conscious, and his general condition and surgical wound were stable. The child was given antibiotics, had his wound bandages changed, and was vaccinated against rabies and tetanus.

Doctors say that animal bites are common accidents, especially with children who 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 damage to severed 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.

When a child is bitten or licked by an animal, parents or caregivers should note: wash the wound with clean water and soap for 15 minutes; disinfect the wound with alcohol or betadine; gently bandage the bleeding; take the child to a medical facility for examination and vaccination; monitor the animal bite for 15 days... Do not arbitrarily stitch the wound.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/chau-be-suyt-mat-vanh-tai-do-bi-cho-nha-nuoi-can-post858617.html