[Repair of loss of facial substance due to firearm injury]

Injury to the face as a result of firearm wounds differs as a function of whether the injury was due to a bullet or lead shot. In the first case treatment is usually that of a mandibular or maxillary comminuted fracture and is principally orthopedic. In the case of hunting guns the damage is considerable and requires reconstitution of soft tissue with the use of a distant flap (purely cutaneous or musculo-cutaneous), bone repair, when necessary, being by costal or iliac grafts.