An explosion in the mouth caused by a firework.

Abstract

Explosion and gunshot mouth injuries represent a challenging problem with regard to restoring optimal oral function. These wounds exhibit a spectrum of complexity and mostly include extensive soft tissue trauma complicated by burns, foreign bodies, fractures and concomitant traumas. To gain maximal restoration of oral function, the use of reconstructive techniques, together with microsurgical techniques, such as grafting of nerves, vessels and soft tissue, as an acute free flap to cover a large defect, are immediately necessary. We report the case of a young Caucasian patient who destroyed the middle and lower thirds of the face when a firecracker blasted in his mouth. His clinical history is unusual in terms of the modality of injury, i.e. a Russian roulette game, and the lesions suffered, in the reconstruction of which we used both surgical and microsurgical techniques.