Abstract
Bear attacks are reported from nearly every part of the world. The chance of a human encountering a bear increases as the remote bear territory diminishes. The sloth bear is one of the three species of bears found in India, which inhabits the forests of India and its neighboring countries. Here we describe a teenager who came to us with a critical injury involving the face, temporal and occipital bones inflicted by a sloth bear attack. He underwent a temporal exploration, facial nerve decompression, pinna reconstruction, and occipital bone repair to save him from fatality.
Highlights
Bear attacks on humans are rare and are even more rarely reported in medical literature
We discuss the presentation and subsequent management of an 18-year-old young man who came to us in a state of shock with a history of an assault by a sloth bear which led to an avulsion of his temporal and occipital bones associated with a facial nerve paralysis
Further inspection showed soft tissue injury to the parotid and the contents of the infratemporal fossa. Another laceration was identified over the occipital scalp on the left side through which the occipital bone was protruding out
Summary
Bear attacks on humans are rare and are even more rarely reported in medical literature. Each year people have numerous accidental interactions with bears. A very small fraction of this results in human injury. The chance of a human encountering a bear increases as the remote bear territory diminishes. A search of scientific literature reveals very few articles detailing case reports or an in-depth analysis of injuries due to bear mauling. We discuss the presentation and subsequent management of an 18-year-old young man who came to us in a state of shock with a history of an assault by a sloth bear which led to an avulsion of his temporal and occipital bones associated with a facial nerve paralysis
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