Laceration is the superficial trauma of the skin which sometimes may extend to deeper tissues. Lacerations may occur daily at the outside environment, at home or at the workplace. Unfortunately children suffer quite often lacerations, mainly on the face and sometimes these traumas may heal abnormally resulting in deformed scars, which may cause behavior and appearance issues in school.
A plastic surgeon will suture a laceration in a way that will provide the best possible healing process of the trauma. Besides that the plastic surgeon may hide the scar in natural skin creases in cases where this is possible and will advice on postsurgical treatment in order minimize the possibility of a deformed scar and achieve a better aesthetic outcome.
In large and deep lacerations, where skin surface is destroyed or severely damaged, plastic surgery offers a variety of surgical flaps that are cleverly designed from nearby healthy body areas, which are used to reconstruct the traumatic regions.
Suturing a laceration requires usually local anesthetic and is performed on an outpatient basis. In deep traumas and especially when a child is very young and cannot realize the importance of the situation, a paediatric anaesthesiologist is required. In these cases sedation or light general anaesthesia is necessary on order to reconstruct the trauma. Postsurgically the young patient is taped with special bandages to keep them secure and returns home.
For emergencies and for out of hours accidents please contact St. Lucas Hospital, in Thessaloniki, at 0030 2310 380000 and ask to be connected to Dr Giannopoulos. The doctor or a member of her team will contact you as soon as possible for medical advice and follow up treatment.
