14 DAY TRIAL // There are more Tysons on the streets that you would have initially thought. Due to them, men are 12 times more prone than women to experience severe human bite injuries requiring surgery. Bite injuries are most likely to be inflicted during fights at weekends or public holidays and in the majority of the cases, alcohol consume played an important part in the issue.
The research team examined the 92 patients necessitating assessment for human bite injuries by the plastic surgery service at St James's Hospital Dublin, Ireland, between January 2003 and December 2005. 85 patients (92%) were men and overall they presented a total of 96 bites. 86% of the injuries involved alcohol consume and 12 % illicit drugs. 70 % of bite wound incidents happened during the weekend or on a public holiday and 70 % of the bites were made on the face area; of these, 65% targeted the ear. In 20 % of the cases, the bite wound got infected and this was more probable when patients waited for more than 12 hours before looking for medical attention.
Of the bitten patients, just 14% intended to undergo reconstructive surgery to "fix" damages caused by the bite. Plastic surgeons say human bite wounds are a common reason for referral for plastic surgery. They are classified in two main types: the occlusive bite, with or without tissue loss, induced when teeth close on the skin, quite common in contact sports (perhaps the most famous is the 1997 Tyson-Holyfield one); and the "fight bite" when tissue on a closed fist is pierced by a tooth.
"The incidence of human bite wounds is largely unknown because many minor injuries do not present to the emergency department for medical assessment. The human bite injury is a deceptive wound and because of the potential for infective, functional and aesthetic complications it requires prompt treatment." said the authors.