Soft tissue infections due to human bites

Abstract

Background: Human bites are potentially dangerous wounds constituting an important cause of morbidity. Infections caused by human bites are reported to be more severe than infections caused by animal bites.  The aim of this article is to present two patients with soft tissue infections secondary to human bites, which are rare in the literature.

Case presentation: The first patient is a 62-year old female whose 4^th digit of her left hand was bitten by her disabled child and became necrotic. The second patient is a 35-year old female patient whose 2^nd digit in her left hand was bitten by her husband five days ago. Both patients had undergone debridement for the necrotic infections in the area of the lesion and prescribed the appropriate antibiotherapy. Rest, elevation and immobilization were maintained. The reconstruction and physiotherapy gave satisfactory results.

Conclusion: Human bite wounds have long had a bad reputation for severe infection and frequent complication. For this reason, prophylactic antibiotic treatment should be given after human bite to prevent infection. If the infection signs and symptoms develop, rapid diagnosis, appropriate antibiotic and surgical therapy should be applied instantly.

Keywords

• Human bite,soft tissue infection,debridement

References

1. Griego RD, Rosen T, Orengo IF, Wolf JE. Dog, cat and human bites: a review J Am Acad Dermatol 1995; 33: 1019-1029.
2. Hausman MR, Lisser SP. Hand infections. Orthop Clin North Am 1992; 23: 171-185.
3. Zobowicz VN, Gravier M. Management of early human bites of the hand: a prospective randomized study. Plast Reconstr Surg 1991; 88: 111-114.
4. Clark DC. Common acute hand infections. Am Fam Physician 2003; 68: 2167-2167.
5. Pradnya d Patil, Tanmay S Panchabhai and sagar C Galwankar: Managing human bites. J Emerg Trauma Shock 2009; 2: 186–190.
6. Perron AD, Miller MD, Brady WJ. Orthopedic pitfalls in the ED: Fight bite. Am J Emerg Med 2002; 20: 114-117.
7. Merchant RC, Zabbo CP, Mayer KH, Becker BM. Factors associated with delay to emergency department presentation, antibiotic usage and admission for human bite injuries. Can J Emerg Med 2007; 9: 441-448.
8. Chadaev AP, Jukhtin VI, Butkevich AT, Emkuzhev VM. Treatment of infected clench-fist human bite wounds in the area of metacarpophalangeal joints. J Hand Surg Am 1996; 21: 299-303.

9. Wienert P, Heiss J, Rinecker H, Sing A. A human bite. Lancet 1999; 354: 572.
10. Phillip E, Wright H. Basic surgical technique and aftercare. In: Canale ST, Editor Campell’s operative orthopedics. 9th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 1998. 3273-3294.
11. Calandruccio JH. Amputations. In: Canale ST, editor. Campbell’s operative orthopedics. 9th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 1998. 3517-3548.