Degloving facial injury treated with hydroconductive dressing

Complex, open maxillofacial fractures are often accompanied by extensive contamination, crush, or avulsion of the overlying soft tissue, there have been two alternatives to treatment: either radical debridement of all contaminated tissue, fixation of the underlying fractures, and soft tissue closure by pedicle flap or graft is done; or more conservative debridement is repeated multiple times until the contaminated tissue is removed and fracture fixation is deemed safe. Debridement is usually accomplished by sharp debridement or with high-pressure intermittent irrigation or some combination of both modalities. The problems with this standard treatment in the face are that facial features may be distorted, superficial branches of the facial and/or trigeminal nerve can be inadvertently sacrificed (even with the use of nerve stimulators), and scarring can distort contours and radically change facial appearance. A serious facial degloving injury with necrotic malodorous tissue and no clear anatomical delineations demanded special attention. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the management of a soft tissue avulsive contaminated injury of the face with underlying maxillofacial fractures.