Dog bites in humans in a large urban agglomeration in the southwest of Poland, an analysis of forensic medical records

Dog bite wounds represent most of all animal-related injuries. The statistics on the characteristics of dog bites in Poland are very limited. This study reviews statistics on dog bites to humans using forensic medical records obtained from the outpatient clinic of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical University in Wrocław, spanning a period of 6 consecutive years (2005-2010). The analysis includes animal profile, circumstances of the biting incident, and injury description. Dependence among selected injury features was tested using the χ2 Rao-Scott test. The analysis showed that the prevalent group of dog bite victims were adults bitten by dogs unfamiliar to them. Most of the injuries were deep and the most frequent exposure regions were those of the lower extremities. In addition, a draft forensic medical assessment worksheet was developed to improve the process of examining patients who sustained dog bites. The information contained in proposed forensic medical assessment worksheets are a valuable source of data concerning epidemiology of canine bites, help to determine a proper course of action with respect to the dog, and may eventually reduce the number of dog bite incidents in Poland.