1/72. An unusual stingray injury--the skindiver at risk.Serious abdominal injury following a stingray attack on a skindiver is described. knowledge of the creature's habits and the avoidance of swimming along the seabed are recommended as precautionary measures against such an injury.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/72. Risk to tourists posed by wild mammals in south africa.BACKGROUND: One of south africa's principal tourist attractions is the opportunity to encounter Africa's large mammals in the wild. Attacks by these mammals can be exceptionally newsworthy with potentially deleterious effects on tourism. Little is known about the risk of injury and death caused by wild mammals to visitors to south africa's nature reserves. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of fatal and nonfatal attacks on tourists by wild mammals in south africa and to ascertain avoidable factors, if any. methods: Commercial press records covering all South African newspapers archived at the Independent newspapers' central library were systematically reviewed for a 10-year period, January 1988 to December 1997 inclusive, to identify all deaths and injuries to domestic and international tourists resulting from encounters with wild mammals in south africa. All of these incidents were analyzed to ascertain avoidable factors. RESULTS: During the review period seven tourists, including two students from thailand and a German traveler, were killed by wild mammals in south africa. Three of the four deaths ascribed to lions resulted from tourists carelessly approaching prides on foot in lion reserves. A judicial inquiry found that the management of a KwaZulu-Natal Reserve was culpable for the remaining death. Tourist ignorance of animal behavior and flagrant disregard of rules contributed to the two fatalities involving hippopotami. The unusual behavior manifested by the bull elephant responsible for the final death, resulted from discomfort caused by a dental problem to this pachyderm. During the same period there were 14 nonfatal attacks on tourists, including five by hippo, three by buffalo, two by rhino, and one each by a lion, leopard, zebra and musth elephant. Only the latter occurred while the visitor was in a motor vehicle. Tourist ethological naivete and failure to determine the experience of trail guides prior to travel, resulted in inadvertent agonistic behavior, unnecessary risk-taking and avoidable injury. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study has shown that attacks on tourists by wild mammals in south africa are an uncommon cause of injury and death. Sensible precautions to minimize this risk include remaining in a secure motor vehicle or adequately fenced precincts while in the vicinity of large mammals, rigidly observing nature reserve instructions, never approaching animals that appear ill, malnourished, displaying aggressive behavior traits or female wild mammals with young, and demanding adequately trained and experienced game rangers when embarking on walking trails. Any behavior that might be construed as antagonistic and which could provoke an attack by large mammals should be avoided (e.g., driving directly at a lion). Visitors need to be informed of classic signs of aggression, in particular in elephants, which will allow timely avoidance measures to be taken. The risk-enhancing effect of excessive alcohol intake is undesirable in the game reserve setting, as is driving at high speed after dusk in areas where hippos graze. Local advice on personal safety in wildlife reserves and the credentials of trail guides should be obtained from lodge or reserve management, tourism authorities or the travel industry prior to travel to game reserves.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/72. Dog pack attack: hunting humans.Dog bite-related fatalities, although unusual, accounted for 304 deaths in the united states between 1979 and 1996 and 6 fatalities in canada between 1994 and 1996. Fatal dog pack attacks and attacks involving human predation are less common. The following describes a dog pack attack on a family of four involving 2 fatalities with predation of the victims. Factors previously identified that contribute to pack attacks and predation, including prior group hunting, social feeding, territorial defense, lack of human interaction, and prey stimuli, are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/72. Unusual injury pattern in a case of postmortem animal depredation by a domestic German shepherd.A case is presented of a 38-year-old woman with skeletization of the head, neck, and collar region and a circumscribed 26-cm x 19-cm defect on the left chest with sole removal of the heart through the opened pericardium but undamaged mediastinum and lungs. The injuries showed V-shaped puncture wounds and superficial claw-induced scratches adjacent to the wound margins that have been described as typical for postmortem animal depredation of carnivore origin and derived from postmortem animal damage by the woman's domestic German shepherd. The circumscribed destruction of the left chest with unusual opening of the pericardium is explained by the physiognomy of the muzzle of the German shepherd and differs from previous reports. Any case presented as postmortem animal mutilation should be viewed with skepticism and undergo a full autopsy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6.0617909900849E-5keywords = heart (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/72. Unilateral comminuted and complicated fracture of the mandible due to dog attack.Fractures of the mandible and their management are discussed in detail in textbooks and articles dealing with facial trauma. This paper presents the management and treatment of a case of a unilateral comminuted and complicated fracture of the mandible due to dog attack on a geriatric patient. The attack also severed the patient's right arm. Due to the severity of the trauma, an emergency surgery was performed on the mandible and arm.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/72. Total soft-tissue reconstruction of the middle and lower face with multiple simultaneous free flaps in a pediatric patient.A 2-year-old boy sustained a massive facial soft-tissue wound secondary to a dog attack. Essentially all the soft tissues of the face were absent, including innervation and intraoral lining. We describe the reconstruction of this defect with five simultaneous free tissue transfers. To our knowledge, this is the first report of five simultaneous free flaps in any patient.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/72. Pathologic features of fatal shark attacks.To examine the pattern of injuries in cases of fatal shark attack in South Australian waters, the authors examined the files of their institution for all cases of shark attack in which full autopsies had been performed over the past 25 years, from 1974 to 1998. Of the seven deaths attributed to shark attack during this period, full autopsies were performed in only two cases. In the remaining five cases, bodies either had not been found or were incomplete. Case 1 was a 27-year-old male surfer who had been attacked by a shark. At autopsy, the main areas of injury involved the right thigh, which displayed characteristic teeth marks, extensive soft tissue damage, and incision of the femoral artery. There were also incised wounds of the right wrist. Bony injury was minimal, and no shark teeth were recovered. Case 2 was a 26-year-old male diver who had been attacked by a shark. At autopsy, the main areas of injury involved the left thigh and lower leg, which displayed characteristic teeth marks, extensive soft tissue damage, and incised wounds of the femoral artery and vein. There was also soft tissue trauma to the left wrist, with transection of the radial artery and vein. Bony injury was minimal, and no shark teeth were recovered. In both cases, death resulted from exsanguination following a similar pattern of soft tissue and vascular damage to a leg and arm. This type of injury is in keeping with predator attack from underneath or behind, with the most severe injuries involving one leg. Less severe injuries to the arms may have occurred during the ensuing struggle. Reconstruction of the damaged limb in case 2 by sewing together skin, soft tissue, and muscle bundles not only revealed that no soft tissue was missing but also gave a clearer picture of the pattern of teeth marks, direction of the attack, and species of predator.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 11keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/72. Persian leopard (panthera pardus) attack in oklahoma: case report.The authors report a fatal case of a Persian leopard (panthera pardus) attack in an animal sanctuary in oklahoma. The victim was a 53-year-old Costa Rican woman who was attempting to feed the animal when she was attacked and killed. autopsy, radiography, fingerprint analysis, microbiologic cultures, and dental impressions were used to evaluate the case. These simple techniques can be applied to similar cases involving wild and domestic animal attacks.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/72. Combined carotid artery injury and laryngeal fracture secondary to dog bite: case report.Approximately 914 new dog bite injuries requiring emergency department visits occur daily in the united states. Attacks by dogs with training and strength to attack should be triaged cautiously because of the possibility of serious internal injury. A high index of suspicion is needed when treating patients with neck injuries secondary to dog bites. We report a case of successfully treated combined carotid artery and laryngeal injury produced by a dog bite.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/72. Unusual infant death: dog attack or postmortem mutilation after child abuse?An unusual form of fatal child abuse is reported in which investigations by the police and the medical examiner were able to distinguish blunt force head trauma followed by postmortem dismemberment from a fatal dog attack. A discussion of the approaches used to ascertain the correct diagnosis is presented, as well as an overview of dog attacks on humans.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = attack (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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