Large animal-related injuries in a rural population in northeastern Turkey

Abstract

Animal-related injury is a serious health problem for people living in rural areas. This type of injury could be of great consequence and life-threatening. There are insufficient data regarding this issue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the causes and treatment outcomes of large animal injuries. We reviewed the medical records of 157 patients with large animal-related injuries in a State Hospital in Northeastern Turkey, between September 2004 and April 2007. Demographic and etiological characteristics of patients and injury and outcome data were analyzed. A total of 157 patients were included in the study. One hundred and thirty-two (84.1 %) of them were male and 25 (15.9 %) female. The mean age of patients was 29.1 years (range 3-83 years). One hundred and twelve patients (71.3 %) had horse-related injuries and 45 patients (28.7 %) had bovine-related injuries (P = 0.096). Twenty-one (13.4 %) patients were referred to a tertiary center due to their need for intensive care, whereas 1 (0.6 %) patient died. Large animal-related injuries constitute an important health problem for people living in rural areas. This type of injury could be serious and mortality could be observed.

Keywords: Large animal injuries; Public health; Rural areas.