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Michael S. Lehv, MD
Columbus, Ohio

JAMA. 1981;246(8):833.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

I must strongly disagree with Dr Callaham in his article on the treatment of dog bite wounds (1980;244:2327). The author states that "all dog bite wounds should be debrided and the edges excised wherever anatomy permits." He further states that this will not only decrease infection but make for "a smaller scar and easier repair."

While it may be true that debridement will help to prevent infection in approximately 10% of dog bite wounds, such treatment is probably deleterious in the other 90%. Excision of the edges of an incisional wound will convert it to an elliptic, excisional defect. Linear closure of such a defect must always produce a scar that is longer than the original incisional wound. Furthermore, the tension at right angles to the wound edges must always be greater than that across the original incisional wound. As such, the wound becomes not easier but . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by John D. Archer, MD, Senior Editor.

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