Concepts of soft-tissue trauma repair.

The proper evaluation and treatment of soft-tissue trauma to the face is extremely important because of the psychologic, cosmetic, and functional sequelae that can occur from these injuries. The facial trauma surgeon should have a wide armamentarium of techniques to manage soft-tissue facial trauma and should approach the repair in a meticulous and scientific fashion. Although the best possible repair of the acute trauma is the goal, it is usually necessary to perform later some camouflage or revision procedures on the scar because of the high likelihood of hypertrophic scarring or inappropriate healing in the trauma scar.