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Tongue laceration
From WikEM
Contents
Background
- Secondary to tongue biting
- Serious injuries can cause hemorrhage and potential airway compromise
Clinical Features
- Examine for other injuries, missing teeth, embedded foreign bodies
Differential Diagnosis
Tongue diagnoses
- Tongue laceration
- Strawberry tongue
- Black hairy tongue
- Oropharyngeal candidiasis (oral thrush)
- Tongue swelling
- Trauma
- Angioedema
- Hereditary
- Allergic (ACE)
- Idiopathic
Management
- Do not need primary repair unless >1 cm in length, widely gaping, involving tip / anterior split tongue, or large hemorrhage
- Use absorbable sutures, chromic gut or vicryl but not fast absorbing
- Tie 4-5 knots but approximate loosely to allow for swelling
- Anesthesia of the anterior 2/3 of the tongue is obtained through an inferior alveolar nerve block
- Chlorhexidine mouth wash to prevent infection
See Also
References
- Ud-udin Z and Gull S. Should minor mucosal tongue lacerations be sutured in children? Emerg Med J. 2007 Feb; 24(2): 123–124.
- Tongue lacerations. A. Patel. BDJ 204, 355 (2008) Published online: 12 April 2008. doi :10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.257.
