Damage
Damage to soft tissues of the mouth, jaws, face, scalp and neck is usually caused by injuries from accidents, although some wounds can be self-inflicted.
Depending on the cause of trauma, only minor damage may result or a serious, potentially life threatening emergency situation – and anything in between. Soft tissue damage may occur in combination with underlying damage to hard tissue (bone fractures).
In an emergency situation, it is international best practice to follow standardised principles of trauma care (Advanced Trauma Life Support, ATLS). This system follows a logical sequence of care which is designed to maximise the efficiency of assessment of a trauma victim, as well as provide priority ranking of potential, life threatening problems and simultaneous resuscitative interventions.
Soft tissue injuries may be divided into several types, these types being roughly indicative of the mechanism of injury. There may be some overlap between types of soft tissue injury or they may be found in combination. Wounds may be categorised as
- Abrasions (caused by the force of an object rubbing on the surface of the skin)
- Contusions (bruises due to rupture of blood vessels under the skin)
- Lacerations (splits in skin and underlying tissues due to blunt impact / force)
- Incised wounds (caused by incisions through skin and tissues with a sharp object)
- Avulsion (tissue displaced, partially or completely, at the wound site from underlying tissue)
- Haematoma (a collection of blood within the soft tissues)
- High velocity missile (caused by a high velocity object, such as a bullet or shrapnel)
- Burns (caused by a hot object or open flame).
We include burns in the list of types of soft-tissue wounds as a matter of completeness but note that burn wounds are typically assessed and treated by specialist burns units.