Ingrida Sapagovaitė, Ramūnas Raugalas, Julija Kociūtė
Abstract
Bites of animals are serious public health‘s issue, especially significant for children at their age. The purpose of an article is to review and analyze 4 years (2008-2011) Children‘s Hospital, Affiliate of Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Clinics data about the bites of animals, it‘s epidemiology, seasonality, the age of children who are victims and risk groups, damage format and treatment methods, to compare this data with the literature from other countries. Statistics analyzed children until 18 years old, bitten by animals, who applied for Children‘s Hospital emergency department‘s surgical section (PSPS) in 4 years time. The average age of victims – 8,8 year. The most risky age 7-10 year. Most of the patients received outpatient treatment; 9,1% (97) were hospitalized. Children often were harmed from May till August (the peak – June). 70,2% (749) children were injured by recognizable animal, 29,8% (318) were injured by vagrant animals. This number grows every year. On the other hand, there is a drop of number every year in the cases where children were bitten by domestic animals. Children until 5 years old usually had injuries in their head and face (45,9%), older ones – upper (43,4%) and lower (34,1%) limbs. The smaller the child, the more affected upper part of the body. 27,7 (296 children) applied for surgical damage, 73,3 (771 children) were wounded, so that they received surgical intervention. There were 9 cases of bone fractures: 8 cases of hand and fingers, 1 case – head. 4,5 years old girl were performed neurosurgical operation due to brain abscess which appeared after the bite. The outcome was good. We suggest that for children under year 10 the radiograph investigation should be carried out with no exception if hands or head has been bitten by a dog; for children older than year 10 – if a hand or fingers have been injured.
Keyword(s): dog bites, animal bites, dog bite injuries, intracerebellar abscesses, pediatric trauma.
DOI: 10.5200/397
Full Text: PDF