A two-day intensive facial trauma management training programme, organised by the Association of Osteosynthesis, a Switzerland-based non-profit organisation and the Pushpagiri Dental College, came to a close at the college auditorium in Thiruvalla on Saturday.
The training programme got special attention in view of the fact that facial injuries are quite common in India and almost 80% of facial fractures are found to have been occurring in road traffic accidents, according to college Principal George Varghese.
Facial trauma
Facial trauma, also called maxillofacial trauma, can involve both soft tissue injuries and fractures of facial bones. Maxillofacial trauma affects facial aesthetics and function. Hence restoration of both is the primary goal of facial trauma management, says Dr. Varghese.
Bai Xiaofeng from China and Jose Florencio Lapena from the Philippines were the international faculty who led the training programme.
Oommen Aju Jacob, Yeshwasini Thelekkat, and Eapen Thomas, renowned maxillofacial surgeons, and Fr. Mathew Mzhuvancheril, academic director of the Pushpagiri group of institutions, addressed the programme on Saturday.
Ravi Veeraraghavan from the Amrita School of Dentistry in Kochi, Gopal Krishnan from Dharwad, Vivek Vardhan Reddy from Telengana, Srikanth Gadicheria from Manipal, Sathish M.S. Vashishta from Bengaluru, Pramod Subhash, Sherry Peter, Ajoy Vijayan, Bobby John, Latha P. Rao, and Philip Puthumana were the national faculty who addressed the two-day programme.
Training
The main attraction of the programme was the intensive hands-on training with the help of simulators and models, along with didactic lectures by experts in the field of facial trauma management.
About 50 maxillofacial surgeons and plastic surgeons from Kerala and South India participated in the workshop.
The participants got an opportunity to experience the latest trends like use of mini-plates and screws and other armamentarium in the management of facial bone fractures.
