<< Back to the abstract archive
Pediatric Hand Trauma: An Analysis of Animal Bite Injuries
Meeti Mehta, BS; Anne Glenney, BS; Alexander Davit, MD
University of Pittsburgh
2024-01-15
Presenter: Meeti Mehta, BS
Affidavit:
Agree
Director Name: Vu Nguyen
Author Category: Medical Student
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Hand
Animal bites are a significant cause of hand trauma in the pediatric population, but are not well represented in the pediatric hand trauma literature. This study identifies risk factors for animal bite-related hand injury.
A retrospective cohort of pediatric hand trauma patients from 2010-2020 was performed. Population estimates and socioeconomic data were obtained from the United States Census Bureau. Summary statistics were computed, and binomial regression was used for relative risks.
1,384 patients sustained hand trauma, and 86 (6.2%) patients had animal bites. Patients ages 3-6 years (RR 2.17, CI 1.37-3.44, p=0.001), with median household income < $71,000 (RR 1.16, CI 1.03-1.30, p=0.04) were associated with greater risk of animal bites, while Caucasian race had greater risk of provoked animal bites (RR 1.51, CI 1.08-2.10, p=0.02). The most common bites included dog (n=77, 89.5%), cat (n=4, 4.7%), horse (n=2, 2.3%), bird (n=1, 1.2%), guinea pig (n=1, 1.2%), and racoon (n=1, 1.2%). Animal bites were associated with greater risk of injuries of the palm (RR 8.65, CI 5.74-13.01, p<0.001), webspace (RR 13.57, CI 9.38-19.63, p<0.001), and wrist (RR 5.30, CI 1.06-26.60, p=0.05). Patients with animal bites were more likely to sustain joint injuries (RR 2.64, CI 1.33-5.25, p=0.005) and lacerations (RR 5.27, CI 3.54-7.85, p<0.001). Animal bites were 12 times more likely to require emergency treatment (RR 12, CI 1.68-85.57, p=0.001).
Our findings highlight risk factors for animal bites in the largest reported cohorts of pediatric hand trauma. These findings show that prevention strategies should target younger Caucasian children from underserved backgrounds.
