Are severity and location of facial trauma risk factors for cervical spine injuries? 10-year analysis based on the use of the AO spine injury classification and the comprehensive facial injury (CFI) score.

PURPOSE: This study aims to demonstrate a correlation between cervical spine injury and location and severity of facial trauma. METHODS: We did a 10-year retrospective analysis of prospectively collected patients with at least one facial and/or cervical spine injury. We classified facial injuries using the Comprehensive Facial Injury (CFI) score, and stratified patients into mild (CFI < 4), moderate (4 ≤ CFI < 10) and severe facial trauma (CFI ≥ 10). The primary outcome was to recognize the severity and topography of the facial trauma which predict the probability of associated cervical spine injuries. RESULTS: We included 1197 patients: 78% with facial injuries, 16% with spine injuries and 6% with both. According to the CFI score, 48% of patients sustained a mild facial trauma, 35% a moderate one and 17% a severe one. The midface was involved in 45% of cases, then the upper facial third (13%) and the lower one (10%). The multivariate analysis showed multiple independent risk factors for associated facial and cervical spine injuries, among them an injury of the middle facial third (OR 1.11 p 0.004) and the facial trauma severity, having every increasing point of CFI score a 6% increasing risk (OR 1.06 p 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Facial trauma is a risk factor for a concomitant cervical spine injury. Among multiple risk factors, severe midfacial trauma is an important red flag. The stratification of facial injuries based on the CFI score through CT-scan images could be a turning point in the management of patients at risk for cervical spine injuries before imaging is available.

Vacuum assisted closure therapy in the management of cervico-facial necrotizing fasciitis: a case report and review of the literature.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare polymicrobial, infection, characterized by a rapid and destructive spread within the subcutaneous tissue and along the superficial fascial planes, initially not affecting underlying muscles but with a common systemic involvement. Necrotizing fasciitis confined to the cervico-facial region is extremely rare (10% of cases) and is characterized by a high mortality rate due to airway compromise and to involvement of the supra-aortic vessels. The prognosis for survival is based on the severity of the necrotizing fasciitis, on the patient's systemic condition and on the prompt diagnosis and adequate surgical and medical management. We discuss a case of cervico-facial necrotizing fasciitis in a 25-year-old patient beginning with an odontogenic abscess, resistant to antibiotic therapy, rapidly progressing into an important right-sided swelling of the neck with worsening dyspnea and dysphagia. Because of his worsened general condition, the patient was transferred to the operating room for an emergency treatment. Under general anesthesia, the right cervical and left buccal purulent material was drained via right lateral cervicotomy an aggressive debridement of necrotic tissue, a disruption and excision of the all-necrotic fascia and a removal of the right submandibular gland. Thus, a portable mini-VAC device was applied. The early intervention with a specific diagnostic and therapeutic protocol and the wound treatment by means of vacuum assisted closure therapy allowed to obtain a quick healing, preventing the systemic involvement, minimizing morpho-esthetic outcome and limiting the costs of post-operative wound care.