A review of upper limb injuries in bear maul victims: Consistent pattern and inverse relation in severity with facial and scalp injuries

PURPOSE: Bear maul injuries are the most common wild animal inflicted injuries in India. More than 300 bear maul injuries report to our hospital per year. METHODS: Twenty-one consecutive patients over a period of 1 year reported to our department for orthopaedic management of bear maul injuries. All the patients were referred either from peripheral hospitals or from other surgical departments of our hospital. RESULTS: All the patients had facial/scalp injuries of variable severity. In all the patients the severity of limb and facial trauma was inversely proportional to each other. Pattern of upper limb trauma in most of the patients was similar. Fifteen patients had either fractures of distal humerus or mid shaft/proximal forearm bone fracture. Two had distal forearm bone fracture, 2 had carpal/metacarpal fractures and 1 had clavicle fracture. Only 1 had lower limb fracture. Thirteen out of 21 patients had associated neurovascular injury of the involved limb. The characteristic feature was extensive soft tissue involvement of the affected limb. CONCLUSION: Upper limb injuries in bear maul patients usually have similar pattern. The severity of upper limb and facial/scalp trauma is inversely proportional to each other. Multistage orthopaedic surgeries are needed for such complex limb injuries.