Animal bites

Abstract

Animal bites continue to pose major public health challenges, and the clinical sequelae of bite injuries can extend far beyond simple wound management. Identification of people bitten by animals remains incomplete, and inconsistencies in data collection preclude meaningful conclusions about bite circumstances and predisposition of specific breeds of dogs to bite or inflict severe bites.

Facial injuries following hyena attack in rural eastern Ethiopia

“…14 Reports of animal bites from the USA and Germany, consisting mainly of domestic cat and dog bites, show that the vast majority of patients sustain superficial wounds only, with bony injuries being a rarity. 7,11 This is in stark contrast to the patients in this study, all four of whom sustained significant soft tissue loss, with bony damage in half of the cases. The greater degree of damage caused by the hyenas can be attributed to several characteristics that enable them to exert huge forces through their jaws.…”

“…11 Dogs tend to focus on the lips, cheek, and nose when attacking humans, known as 'the central target area'. 12 Invariably the lips are torn and tissue lost as the animal thrashes around its head.…”

Dogs in the Workplace: A Review of the Benefits and Potential Challenges

“…According to some estimates, dogs are most frequently responsible for animal bites to humans (80–90% of mammalian bites), followed by cats (5–15%) [102,103]. Dog bites can range in severity from light bruising to serious lacerations, tears, and crushing injuries.…”

Bilateral Testicular Loss due to Dog Bite in a Child

“…[2,7] On the other hand, genital trauma caused by dog bites is rare. Only 10 cases of scrotal dog bites in children are reported.…”