Anthony Snyder, of Naperville, Ill., has a 4-year-old daughter who was recently bitten by a dog while visiting her grandparents. "The bite left a 1-inch gash above her right eyebrow at least 1 centimeter deep. My wife and I rushed her to the emergency room," he says. The doctor cleaned the bite and applied an antibacterial gel and put a bandage on it. The Snyders were concerned about the scar the wound would leave and were advised to have the wound stitched. However, when their daughter was seen by a plastic surgeon, she was taken into surgery and received two internal stitches and a clear skin adhesive, Dermabond, to bind the wound closed. "Today the wound is healing amazingly well," says Snyder. "She may have a very small scar, but it will be very tiny compared to what it would have been had we left it covered with a bandage." According to Dr. Raymond Pitetti, associate director of emergency medicine at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., dog bites generally shouldn't be stitched if it can be avoided, as the risk of infection increases dramatically when the wound is closed. "The two exceptions to this are large lacerations that impede and lacerations to the face," says Dr. Pitetti. "The latter is a matter of cosmetics. We will close lacerations to the face." |
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