A Forensic and Medical Evaluation of Dog Bites in a Province of Western Turkey

Abstract

The aim was to evaluate the demographic data of dog-bite cases organized from criminal and forensic reports. This study evaluated 328 cases admitted to the Director of Forensic Medicine, Eskisehir, as a result of dog bites between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010. It was found that those in the age-group of 0-18 were most frequently exposed to dog bites (48.5%). Injuries to the lower extremity, upper extremity, and chest/abdomen/back were more frequent in men (72.6%, 76.4%, and 66.1%, respectively), while injuries to the head/neck/face were more frequent in women (52.3%) (p < 0.01). While most of those wounded in the upper extremity, the head/neck/face, and the chest/abdomen/back were in the child age-group, most of those wounded in the lower extremity were in the adult age-group (p < 0.001). Teaching children, in particular, how to behave around dogs would be useful in reducing the incidence of bite.

Non-Fatal Attacks by Dogs: Characteristics of Victims and Attacking Dogs, From the Forensic Perspective: A Series of 106 Cases From Athens, Greece, and Brief Review of the Literature

“…The results of our study did not demonstrate that minors sustain injuries more often on the head and neck, as described in the literature, perhaps because minors are under-represented in our sample (10.4% of the total sample) or because it is possible that these injuries may have been inflicted by a familiar owned dog, thus were not reported to the authorities [ 2 , 10 , 18 ].…”

“…On the other hand, in incidents involving adults, only 10% of bites are located on the head and neck [3]. Injuries to the extremities are described to account for most dog-related injuries [2]. It has been reported that the most common victims of dog bites are males and children or adolescents [4].…”

“…Animal bites may exhibit wide variation depending on various factors (animal involved, attack circumstances, and victim’s characteristics) [ 1 ]. Injuries inflicted by dogs have a reported prevalence of 0.3%-1.1% of all emergency department (ED) visits and in some cases, they may cause death [ 2 ].…”

“…On the other hand, in incidents involving adults, only 10% of bites are located on the head and neck [ 3 ]. Injuries to the extremities are described to account for most dog-related injuries [ 2 ].…”

Evaluation of Pediatric Patients with Animal Bites and Rabies Suspected Exposures

“…Hayvan ısırıkları, kuduzun yanı sıra pek çok enfeksiyöz hastalığa, doku hasarlarına ve nörolojik defisitlere varan sonuçlara yol açabilmektedir 26 . Özellikle, perfore edici ve penetran yaralanmalar ile el, yüz, ayak ve genital bölge yaralanmalarında enfeksiyon riski yüksektir.…”