Comparison of Outcome in Immediate Vs Delayed Management in Patients with Gunshot Injuries to Face, A Prospective Study

Abstract

Facial injuries due to gunshot often comprise on bone and tissue destruction. The destruction or injury to facial muscle and bone depend on the category of weapon used. Surgical intervention must be done, but the timing for the surgical procedure delayed verses immediate closure surgeries are controversial. Objective: To compare the outcome of immediate and delayed closure of the facial injuries by a gunshot. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study consisting of 60 patients getting their treatment in Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Mayo hospital, Lahore. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0. Chi-square test was used to compare the results with p-value ≤ 0.05 as significant. Results: Age group on average was 21 to 60 years. Out of these 60 gunshot facial injury patients, 52 (86.7%) were males and 8 (13.3%) were females. Among these, patients managed with immediate closure after gunshot injuries were 44 (73.3%) and 16 (26.7%) were managed with delayed closure. Wound infection and wound dehiscence were compared in both groups. The mean wound defect size was found among patients 3.98 ± 1.30cm. On comparison, statistically significant difference was observed for wound infection and wound dehiscence among both immediate versus delayed groups (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, we found that early management is better in terms of lower percentage of wound infection and dehiscence.