THE USE OF A MODIFIED MCFONTZL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR SOFT TISSUE INJURIES TO THE FACE CLINICAL AND STATISTICAL STUDY

Abstract

The face is a frequent site of injury by road traffic accidents, human and animal assaults and falls from a height in children. facial injuries deserve a special kind of attention and the mt of treating them is almost a separate entity. The present work aimed at a thorough study of all cases of soft tissue injuries of the face admitted to the Casualty Department at Alexandria Main University Hospital over the period from August to Februmy 2001 with special attention to their causative factors, types of injuries together with their evaluation via our modified MCFONTZL classification system of soft tissue injmy to the face. The total number of cases studies is 100 cases. (80%) are males and (20%) are females. The youngest patients is 3 months old while The oldest is 60 years old. As regards the causes offacial injuries, it is found that intended injury is the commonest cause of facial lacerations (57%) followed by car accidents (14%). The commonest site to be affected is the forehead (37.17%). As for the types of soft-tissue facial injuries, simple lacerations are the commonest type of injuries (78.76%). Pattems of lacerations generated especially by blunt trauma are associated with the inherent biomechanical and stmctural properties of the skin and the underlying dermis, independent of underlying muscle and bony attachments. The microvasculature and fibrous connective tissue including collagen bundles of the dennis have been described previously to parallel cleavage lines of the face. This suggests that the orientation of blunt trauma lacerations may have a .functional significance in 1ninimizing injury to the underlying microvasculature.