Case report: surviving a tiger attack

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Pedram Emami (1) p.emami@uke.de
  Thomas M. Kaiser (2)
  Jan Regelsberger (1)
  Einar Goebell (3)
  Jens Fiehler (3)
  Manfred Westphal (1)
  Oliver Heese (1)
• 刊名：Neurosurgical Review
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：October 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：35
• 期：4
• 页码：621-624
• 全文大小：234.1 KB
• 参考文献：1. Anderson M, Utter P, Szatkowski J, Patrick T, Duncan W, Turner N, Dekutoski M (2008) Cervical spine injury: tiger attack. Orthopedics 31(12)
  2. Burdge DR, Scheifele D, Speert DP (1985) Serious Pasteurella multocida infections from lion and tiger bites. JAMA 253:3296–3297
  3. Capitini CM, Herrero IA, Patel R, Ishitani MB, Boyce TG (2002) Wound infection with Neisseria weaveri and a novel subspecies of Pasteurella multocida in a child who sustained a tiger bite. Clin Infect Dis 34:E74–E76
  4. Chapenoire S, Camiade B, Legros M (2001) Basic instinct in a feline. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 22:46–50
  5. Christiansen P, Wroe S (2007) Bite forces and evolutionary adaptations to feeding ecology in carnivores. Ecology 88:347–358
  6. Chum M, Ng WP (2011) Traumatic tiger attack. J Neurosurg Pediatr 8:530–534
  7. Clark MA, Sandusky GE, Hawley DA, Pless JE, Fardal PM, Tate LR (1991) Fatal and near-fatal animal bite injuries. J Forensic Sci 36:1256–1261
  8. Easow JM, Tuladhar R (2007) Aeromonas hydrophila wound infection following a tiger bite in Nepal. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 38:867–870
  9. Isotalo PA, Edgar D, Toye B (2000) Polymicrobial tenosynovitis with Pasteurella multocida and other gram negative bacilli after a Siberian tiger bite. J Clin Pathol 53:871–872
  10. Murphy IG, Dempsey MP, Kneafsey B (2007) Tiger bite in captivity. Eur J Plast Surg 30:39–40
  11. Nabi DG, Tak SR, Kangoo KA, Halwai MA (2009) Increasing incidence of injuries and fatalities inflicted by wild animals in Kashmir. Injury 40:87–89
  12. Rahman MM, Islam MS, Ahmed SJ (2009) Tiger bite: an unapprehended injury. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 19:595–597
  13. Schiller HJ, Cullinane DC, Sawyer MD, Zietlow SP (2007) Captive tiger attack: case report and review of the literature. Am Surg 73:516–519
• 作者单位：1. Department of Neurological Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany2. Zoological Institute, University Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany3. Department of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
• ISSN：1437-2320

文摘

Attacks on humans by large predators are rare, especially in Northern Europe. In cases of involvement of the craniocervical compartment, most of the attacks are not survived. We report on a case where the patient survived a tiger attack despite severe head trauma and discuss the circumstances leading to the patient’s survival and excellent outcome. The patient we report on is a 28-year-old tamer, who was attacked by three tigers during an evening show. A bite to the head resulted in multiple injuries including left-sided skull penetration wounds with dislocated fractures, dural perforations, and brain parenchyma lesions. The patient recovered without neurological deficits after initial ICU treatment. No infection occurred. In order to understand the mechanism of the tiger’s bite to the patient’s cranium, a simulation of the attack was performed using a human and a tiger skull put together at identical positions to the bite marks in a CT scan. It seems that during the bite, the animal was not able to clamp down on the patient’s skull between its canine teeth and therefore reduced bite forces were applied. Survival of an attack by a large predator that targeted the cervical–cranial compartment with an excellent outcome is not described in the literature. We were surprised to find only minor lesions of the brain parenchyma despite the obvious penetration of the skull by the tiger’s canines. This seems to be related to the specific dynamics of the cranial assault and the reduced forces applied to the patient’s head demonstrated in a 3D bite simulation.