Cranio-cervico-facial injuries due to crocodile bite: a rare observation in Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital (Burkina Faso)

Abstract

Human aggressions by wild animals are rare but often dramatic. Among the animals that attack humans, the crocodile is singled out by the impressive power of its jaws, which leave very little chance of survival to the victim it manages to grasp. Crocodile bite lesions most often affect the limbs and trunk. Cephalic injuries are exceptional and particularly serious because of the important infectious risks and their usual mortality. The authors report a case of cranio-cervico-facial trauma due to a crocodile bite in a 16-year-old patient with deep soft tissue wounds associated with a fracture of the mandible. Emergency management resulted in a favorable outcome. The report of this case aims to highlight the clinical specificities and the modalities of management of this rare lesion entity in an under medicalized context.

Keywords

• animal bites
• crocodile
• cranio-cervico-facial